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OLD ENGLISH POPULAR MUSIC
VOL. I.
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MSS. 978. Facsimile.
OLD ENGLISH
POPULAR Music
BY
WILLIAM CHAPPELL, F.S.A.
A NEW EDITION
WITH A PREFACE AND N'OTES, AND THE EARLIER
EXAMPLES ENTIRELY REVISED
BY
H. ELLIS tTOOLDRIDGE
VOL I.
LONDON
CHAPPELL dr CO. AND MACMILLAN & CO.
NEW YORK
NOVELLO, EWER & CO.
1893
ML
LONDON :
HENDERSON AND SPALDING, LIMITED, PRINTERS,
3 AND 5, MARYLEBONE LANE, LONDON, W.
028407
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
THE beginnings of this book were in the year 1836 or 1837, when the
author first issued proposals for the publication to subscribers of a
collection of old English popular tunes, with information respecting
the songs formerly sung to them, and other related matters of interest,
the whole to be contained in three parts.
The first part appeared in 1838; and in 1840 the work, complete
according to the original scheme, was brought together in two volumes
folio, (one containing the tunes, and the other the literary matter,) with
the following title : —
" A Collection of National English Airs, consisting of Ancient
Song, Ballad, & Dance Tunes, interspersed with remarks and
anecdote, and preceded by an Essay on English Minstrelsy. The
airs harmonized, for the Pianoforte, by W. Crotch, Mus. Doc.,
G. A. Macfarren, and T. Augustine Wade. Edited by W.
Chappell. London : published by Chappell, (Music-seller to Her
Majesty,) 50, New Bond Street, and Simpkin, Marshall & Co.,
Stationers' Hall Court."
The volume containing the literary matter bears the date of the
commencement of the publication, 1838, and the volume of tunes that
of its termination, 1840.
In closing his remarks upon the tunes in this collection, (which it
should be mentioned was the first of its kind,) the author intimates
that he had accumulated, while it was in progress, much new material
which the limit of three parts laid down in his original scheme would
not allow him to include ; and this he promises to publish, if it should
be wished for, at some future time. The success of the book en-
couraged him to proceed, and in 1855 the publication of the new work,
vi EDITOR'S PREFACE.
which took the form of a considerable expansion of the old one, was
begun, again to subscribers and in parts, with the following title : —
" Popular Music of the Olden Time ; a Collection of Ancient
Songs, Ballads, and Dance Tunes, illustrative of the National
Music of England. With short introductions to the different
reigns, and notices of the airs from writers of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. Also a short account of the Minstrels.
By W. Chappell, F.S.A. The whole of the airs harmonized
by G. A. Macfarren. London : Cramer, Beale and Chappell,
201 Regent Street."
The publication in this form was complete in seventeen parts, and
the work was issued to the public in 1859, in two volumes, super-royal
Svo. Part of this edition bears a new title : —
" The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time :
a History of the Ancient Songs, Ballads, and of the Dance Tunes of
England, with numerous anecdotes and entire ballads. Also a short
account of the Minstrels. By W. Chappell, F.S.A. The whole of
the airs harmonized by G. A. Macfarren. London : Chappell and
Co , 50 New Bond Street, W."
In the interval between 1840 and 1855 the author had applied
himself, as these titles show, to the work of extracting from the general
literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries all the references
he could find to the contemporary ballads and their tunes, and had also
obtained access to the larger collections — Roxburghe, Pepys, &c. — of the
black-letter broadsides. The new work, therefore, in which appeared
many complete ballads till then unpublished, was now not only a
repertory of English popular music, but also a continuation of the
literary works of Percy and Ritson, though of necessity dealing only
with those ballads for which tunes could be found. The copiousness
and accuracy of the literary portion of the work have often been
commended, and with regard to the tunes, a careful examination of all
the known sources shows that the author had allowed few of any
great value properly belonging to his subject to escape him.
THE basis of the present edition was a copy of the work of 1855,
annotated and interleaved by the author, and containing all the
information he had collected since that publication. The annotations
EDITOR'S PREFACE. vii
consisted chiefly of references to duplicate copies of ballads in collections
other than those already quoted, and notices of ballads not previously
known to have been sung to the tune treated of ; the papers interleaved
were mainly additional extracts from the contemporary literature, and
ballads generally complete. Most of the marginal annotations and the
additional literary references have been incorporated in the new text,
but I have omitted the complete ballads, only retaining a stanza or two
where it was necessary to quote them at all.
In deciding to allow myself this liberty, which I have also taken in
dealing with the complete ballads of the former edition, I was partly
influenced by a consideration of the space at my disposal, but more by
the fact that the greater part of the matter here omitted has since 1855
been printed, much of it under the care of our author himself, in The
Roxburghe Ballads and other similar publications, which carry on in a
systematic manner the work begun by Percy and Ritson. Readers who
are not specially interested in this form of literature will, I believe, be
content with what is here given, while those who are may be supposed
to possess the publications in which the ballads are contained entire.
Indeed, the appearance of these publications since the former edition
of this work was printed has created a new situation, enabling an editor
now to concentrate attention upon that which is after all the most
important element of the work, the music. The author's discovery of
this was the original cause of the undertaking ; it forms the centre round
which the somewhat varied structure has grouped itself, and constitutes
its chief and most beautiful and most enduring feature. For while it
has never at any time been seriously pretended that the ballads, considered
as poetry, could be said to attain even to the lowest standard required
by the art, and such interest as they may now excite remains purely
antiquarian, the tunes have always been recognized as admirable. Not V
only were they at their first appearance often adopted by the greatest
musicians as themes for composition, but in our own day, since their
revival by the author, they have been unmistakably accepted as a living
portion of English music, and the best of them will probably never again
be lost or forgotten.
Especial care, therefore, has been bestowed upon the preparation of
the music for the present edition. All the known sources have been
carefully examined, and the different versions of each tune compared,
and always the oldest, and when two or more were of equal authority, what
seemed the best, version has been adopted. This rule has been rigidly
adhered to. Moreover, no note has been altered ; and where a possible
viii EDITOR'S PREFACE.
chromatic sign has been suggested it is printed above, not beside, the
note affected.
IN comparing the present edition with the former it will be found
that while many of the tunes are identical, in many a change more or
less considerable has taken place. In some cases this change is due
only to my adoption of an earlier version, and does not affect the
character of the melody ; in others, however, it is fundamental, and is
caused by the removal from the signature of a sharp or flat, not to be
found in the original, which had been added in the former edition. The
V effect of this added sign was always to transform an ecclesiastical mode
into a major or minor key.
This observation at once raises the question of the relations existing,
in early times, between the ecclesiastical or skilled music, and the
popular practice ; and it may be well to speak of it here, before
proceeding further.
The notion most prevalent with respect to this subject, at the time
when the former edition of this work was in preparation, was very much
as follows : Assuming that all skilled musicians, before the madrigalists,
were either ecclesiastics, or employed by ecclesiastics as chanters and
organists, it was supposed that the church, by jealously maintaining
certain crabbed formulae, relics of the dark ages, called tones or modes,
and permitting no deviation from them in sacred music, had ignorantly
hindered the natural development of the art ; that the people, whose
instinctive perceptions were uncorrupted, had already in very early
times provided the true basis for this development, by the evolution, in
their own rude practice, of the modern minor and major scales ; that
their system was therefore at first opposed to that of the skilled
musicians, and that it was not until after the Reformation that the union
of musical skill with popular feeling, which has created modern music,
was possible. As a consequence of this, it was assumed that if popular
music sometimes appears to be written in an ecclesiastical mode, it can
only be by reason of the omission of sharps and flats intended by the
composer, which should be supplied. And this accounts for the added
signs in the former edition ; for that the prevalent opinion had been to
some extent accepted by our author is evident from the text of the
work, in which he gives expression to it ; but our information has so
much increased in the years that have since elapsed, that had he lived to
prepare the present edition, there can be no doubt he would not still
have maintained it. Many of my readers, however, will I believe
EDITOR'S PREFACE. ix
'
confess that it is by no means extinct even now ; l and for this reason,
as well as to justify what I have done, a short account of our present
knowledge upon the subject would seem to be desirable.
And first, with regard to the scales themselves, it is to be remarked
that the four ecclesiastical authentic scales, D — d, E — e, F — f, G — g,
and the ' popular ' diatonic minor and major scales, A — a and C — c,
correspond exactly, in the arrangement of their intervals, to those six
scales or species of the Greek diatonic genus which have their finals
upon the same notes.2 Their common origin therefore is apparent, as
co-equal parts of the system current throughout the western world in
the early centuries of our era ; and their separation into two hostile
groups, sharply divided by irreconcilable differences, which is the
appearance they present to the modern eye, is probably entirely owing
to the modern point of view ; since there is no evidence that before the
seventeenth century any such complete separation ever took place. It
is true, — taking first the old ecclesiastical use of them, — that S. Ambrose,
or whoever gave the first rule, omitted the scales of A and C, though he
allowed all the others, except B — b, which has always, from its false fifth,
been considered practically non-existent ; and that S. Gregory, when he
established the famous eight ecclesiastical tones, or modes, did not
admit them, contenting himself with allowing the plagal forms of the
four already chosen. But that their omission from the Church rule did
not mean exclusion from the Church use, is plain from the existence of
the Tonus Peregririus and other religious compositions of quite early
date, which were made in those scales and included in the Roman ritual
notwithstanding.
Certainly, it is difficult to imagine any good reason for the apparent
silence of the early Church authorities upon this subject, unless we
suppose that the scales of A and C had formerly been associated with
1 In the most recent History of Music on a hitherto-used Church modes, to adopt the
large scale, (by Emil Naumann), the following system of scales and keys now in common use. "
passage respecting the songs of the Trouba- The italics are mine.
dours will be found at p. 235 of the English 2 The only important known difference be-
translation : — "It becomes clear, on a study t ween the ancient and modern rendering of the
of these songs, that the people, whether high scales lies in the intonation of the intervals,
or low, composed their melodies unrestrained which has been gradually modified to suit the
by any theoretical law, our present diatonic necessities of harmony ; a part of music en-
scale appearing to have been the basis on tirely, or almost entirely, unknown to the
which they intuitively built their lays. Thus, ancients. See the article Scale, by \V. Pole,
it is self-evident that the chansons of the Mus.Doc., F.R.S., in \h& Dictionary of Music.
Troubadours and the songs of the Minnesingers The exact differences were given in figures in
were the precursors of the great change which a paper read by the late Mr. Ellis, F. R. S. , to
took place in the middle of the seventeenth the Society of Arts, and published in their
century, when art-music seceded from the Journals for March 27 and October 30, 1885.
x EDITOR'S PREFACE.
popular secular practice in ways which rendered them somewhat less
suitable than the others for Church use ; for, in truth, offering as they do
the most direct means of expression for the natural unintellectual
feelings of mankind, and conveying so easily all shades of them, from
the deepest grief to the most unbridled mirth and jollity, these must
always have been favourites with the people.
No documents, however, remain to give us any information with
respect to the popular practice at this period, nor during many centuries
after ; so that it is not until we come to the songs of the Troubadours
and Minnesingers, (which begin to make their appearance in the latter
half of the twelfth century,) that we can hazard a definite conjecture
with respect to the popular use of the scales contained in the ancient
system. And though, looking at the only versions of these songs
which have been as yet offered as translations of their old notation,
we cannot say we know the melodies, we may admit that their scales
are very much what we should expect to find, and that while A and
C predominate, the others are not neglected.
The appearance, about the same date, of the earliest specimens of
part-writing enables us also to form some idea of the relations existing
at this time between the skilled and popular music, and they are found to
have been very close and intimate. The valuable MS. in the library
of the Medical Faculty of Montpellier, which was brought to light
by M. de Coussemaker, and described with many examples in LArt
Harmonique au XIIe et XIIIe sttcles, contains a large number of
works by masters of the great school of Paris — the first parent
of counterpoint — which make this clear. The simplest proof they
afford is perhaps to be found in the fact that Motetts and Chansons,
for instance, are frequently brought together in the same piece ; the
sacred and secular parts being sung simultaneously.1 And we know
that this device, which we see here beginning with the first attempts
to put real parts together, continued in common use in the Church
until its unseemliness was recognized in the sixteenth century.
The scales of A and C are to be found in the Montpellier MS.
in a fair proportion of cases ; and, not to weary the reader with
further examples, it may be said once for all that from this time
forward, notwithstanding individual denunciation of the " modus
1 In a Motett by Perotin, organist of Notre tenor sings "In omni fratre tuo," &c., the
Dame, the tenor sings " Beata viscera," &c., upper voice has " Mout me fu gries li departir ";
while the upper voice has a secular song, and in the other " Gaude chorus omnium,"
"L'estat du monde et la vie." There are &c., is accompanied by " Povre secors ai
also two ascribed to " L'auteur du Traite de encore recovre."
dechant vulgaire," in one of which, while the
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
XI
lascivus," no reluctance to make use of either of them is shown by
the church composers.
Of the specimens of the popular music of our own country contained
in the present work, the now famous Round or Canon Sumer is icumen
in, which stands first, was almost certainly thrown into its present form
by an ecclesiastic ; l and it should also be mentioned that it was
originally fitted with a little Latin hymn, in addition to the secular
song, from which we may presume its use both in and out of church.
The Song- of Agincourt was certainly made either by an ecclesiastic
or a church musician ; and several others in the early portion of
the work are known to have been either made or set by members
of the Royal Chapel. The Nowell again has two sets of words,
one sacred and the other secular. Lastly, the second tune for The
Westron Wynde formed the subject of masses by eminent composers
as late even as Queen Mary's time ; and was not merely adopted as
a theme for the opening phrases of the different portions, but sung con-
tinuously throughout, sometimes by one voice and sometimes by another,
so that the whole mass from beginning to end is nothing but descant
upon it
With regard to the scales used in our popular music, the following,
table, accounting for all the tunes in the present work which appeared
while the ecclesiastical scales, or modes, were in use, gives the result of
analysis :
ECCLESIASTICAL
SCALE OF D.
ist or Dorian Mode
(Original and transposed positions. )
}"
2nd or Hypodorian Mode... ..,
(Transposed position.)
I26
ECCLESIASTICAL
SCALE OF G.
7th or Mixolydian Mode
(Original position.)
!>,..
63
" POPULAR "
SCALE OF A.
Called in the i6th century the 9th
or Qiolian Mode
(Original and transposed positions. )
i I2
" POPULAR "
SCALE OF C.
Called in the i6th century the I3th
or Ionian Mode
(Original and transposed positions. )
j,.
55
1 Naumann suggests Walter Odyngton,
called also Walter of Evesham, who is known
to have been a disciple of the school of Paris,
where alone so much skill could at that time
have been acquired.
xii EDITOR'S PREFACE.
As a matter of fact, the ecclesiastical modes were freely used in
England in the composition of all kinds of secular music until about the
second decade of the seventeenth century. The popular treatment of
them differed in no essential respect from the ecclesiastical ; and the
nameless authors of the ballad tunes, for anything their work shews to
the contrary, might well have been the very men whom we know and
honour as composers for the church. Even in such a matter as the
choice of scales to write in, there is no difference ; the modes most used
and those most neglected being in both kinds of music the same.1
THE earlier sources from which the tunes in the present work have
been taken are of two kinds, — musical commonplace books in which the
possessors have noted down at random all sorts of little pieces that have
pleased them, and systematic collections of vocal music in parts in some
of which a popular tune has been taken as the subject. The British
Museum MS. Reg. Append. 58 is a good specimen of the first kind, and
Addl. MSS. 31,922 and 31,390 are the finest examples of the second.
These last have been described, the former by our author in Archceologia,
vol. xli., 1867, pp. 371-386, and the latter at p. 155 of the first volume
of the present work, and it seems unnecessary to add anything here.
A more detailed account, however, must be given of the principal
collections of Lute and Virginal Music, containing popular tunes, which
began to be made towards the close of the sixteenth century, and which
are by far the most valuable sources we possess.
i. The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. This is the MS. now in the
Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, which has hitherto been known as
Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book. Our author in the former edition of
this work had already shewn that this MS. was in no way connected
with Queen Elizabeth, since it contains compositions dated, in the same
handwriting as the rest of the book, 1603, 1605, and 1612. And further
proof has lately been supplied by Mr. W. B. Squire in his article "Vir-
ginal Music" in The Dictionary of Music, where he points out that a piece
by Dr. Bull, contained in the MS., is now known to have been composed
in 1621. The reader may be referred to Mr. Squire's article for a
complete account of the MS., and all that can be said about its origin,
and for a list of its contents.
1 With one necessary exception. The third plagal forms, not being very suitable for unac-
mode, known as the Phrygian, much used by companied melody was never used for ballad
church composers in both its authentic and or dance tunes
EDITOR'S PREFACE. xiii
2. The large collection of MS. Lute Music in the University Library
in Cambridge, presented by George I. This collection formed a part of
the library of Bishop John Moore (Norwich, 1691 ; Ely, 1707), which
was bought after his death in 1714 by the King. Its previous history is
unknown.
3. A MS. of Lute Music (circ. 1600), bearing the name of William
Ballet as owner, preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
4. A MS. of Lute Music (circ. 1600), bearing the name of Dorothy
Welde as owner, now in the possession of the Rev. the Lord Forrester,
to whom my best thanks are due for permission to give extracts from it.1
5. " A new Booke of Tabliture, containing sundrie easie and familiar
Instructions, shewing howe to attaine to the knowledge, to guide and
dispose thy hand to play on sundry instruments, as the Lute, Orpharion,
and Bandora: Together with divers new Lessons to each of these
Instruments .... collected together out of the best Authors pro-
fessing the practise of these Instruments. Printed at London for
William Barley, and are to be sold at his shop in Gratious Street. 1 596."
6. " The Schoole of Musicke : wherein is taught the perfect method,
of the fingering of the Lute, Pandora, Orpharion, and Viol de Gamba ;
with most infallible generall rules, both easie and delightfull. Also a
method, how you may be your owne instructer for Pricksong, by
the help of your Lute, without any other teacher : with lessons of all
sorts, for your further and better instruction. Newly composed by
Thomas Robinson, Lutenist. London, Printed by Tho. Este, for Simon
Waterson, dwelling at the signe of the Crowne in Paules Church-yard.
1603."
I have given the titles of these last two works at length as the
shortest way of describing them. Having done so, it is sufficient to say
that the following are of the same kind : —
7. Anthony Holborne's Cittharn Schoole, 1597.
8. Robinson's New Citharen Lessons, 1609.
9. W. Corkine's First Book of Ayres (Lute), 1610.
10. W. Corkine's Second Book of Ayres (Lute), 1612.
I spoke above of these collections as the most valuable sources we
possess, and my reason was their date. It is clear from the references
to the popular music in contemporary literature that during the latter
half of the sixteenth century there was an enormous increase in the
1 I have also to thank Mr. G. E. P. Arkwright for the loan of his careful and accurate
transcripts from these four MSS., a kindness by which my labours were much shortened.
xiv EDITOR'S PREFACE.
number of ballad and dance tunes, and we know from the tunes them-
selves that they reached their highest point of excellence about the year
1600. The compositions in these collections were all made between
1590 and 1630, and it is owing to the constant adoption by their authors
of the current popular tunes, as subjects, that we are able to say that the
greater part of the genuine ballad and dance music which remains to us
belongs to the period during which it was undoubtedly at its best.
Moreover, the versions, being contemporary, are uncorrupted. We have
but to compare one of them with the same tune, or any other of like
date, as it appears in Playford's Dancing Master for instance, only
sixty years later, in order to understand the extent of our debt, in this
respect, to the Elizabethan instrumentalists.
In the compositions for the Lute and Virginals of which popular
tunes were made the subjects, two principal forms may be distinguished,
— the Air and Variations, and the Fantasia ; and these, in their main
outlines, are common to the writings for both instruments. The Air
and Variations is treated in two ways : either the composition begins
with a complete statement of the tune, (sometimes quite plain, and
sometimes slightly ornamented with unessential notes,) which is fol-
lowed by a number of more or less elaborate variations ; or each strain
of the tune is varied, once or twice, after the statement, and before
proceeding to the statement of the next strain. Almost all the tunes in
the following work which have been taken from the Lute and Virginal
books were found in one or other of these subdivisions of the Air and
Variation form. The remainder exist in the shape of a plain statement
only, a form too &hort to constitute a piece, but which may have served
as the subject of extemporaneous treatment. The Fantasia is generally
useless for our present purpose, since it omits the statement of the tune,
and indeed it is often difficult to see what relation its long quick-running
phrases in short notes can bear to any tune at all ; but in cases where
the tune appears to have been distorted by the process known to the
old composers for voices as breaking, (which was often applied to the
ecclesiastical plain-song when it formed one of several parts, and for
which a kind of rule existed,) it is sometimes possible to form an idea
of the melody upon which the Fantasia was constructed ; but it must
be confessed that the result can never be accepted as quite trustworthy.
The value of the collection contained in the works of Thomas Ravens-
croft, next to be mentioned, though not so great as that of the lute
and virginal books, and of a different kind, is nevertheless considerable.
Ravenscroft may perhaps be described as our first musical antiquary.
EDITOR'S PREFACE. xv
Frequent attendance at the Gresham lectures, and a devout perusal of
Morley's great work on practical music, seem to have inspired him with a
sincere belief in the superiority of the older style as compared with
that which was in his time just beginning to make its appearance ; and
his first publications, undertaken in 1609, when he was but seventeen
years old, were an attempt to preserve the popular music of the earlier
part of the preceding century from the final oblivion which seemed to
threaten it. We must be grateful, though we may wish he had done
more to rescue it from the corruption into which it had fallen, and
must often suspect that he is unwittingly misleading us. He gives none
of that information, with respect to his material and his treatment of
it, which is nowadays considered indispensable in a work of this kind,
and an editor whose business it is to follow him is left very much in the
dark about many things it is important he should know ; but upon the
whole it may be said that if he is in some cases evidently, and in many
probably, much at fault, in others internal evidence shows his version
to be genuine. Where I have found good reason to think him wrong
I have said so, but in doubtful cases I have given his version, (which is
often the only one to be had,) without special comment, for what it
may be worth.
His first three publications, the only ones from which tunes have
been taken for this work, are as follows : —
1. " Pammelia. Musick's Miscellanie or Mixed Varietie of Pleasant
Roundelayes, and Delightfull Catches, of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Parts in
one .... 1609."
2. " Deuteromelia, or the Second Part of Musick's Melodic, or
melodious musicke of Pleasant Roundelaies ; K[ing] H[enry's] mirth,
or Freemens Songs, and such delightfull catches .... 1609."
3. " Melismata. Musicall Phansies. Fitting the Court citie and
countrey Humours. To 2, 3, 4, and 5 Voyces .... 1611."
While Ravenscroft was occupied with the songs of a former gene-
ration, the contemporary music, both vocal and instrumental, was
extending its popularity beyond our own shores, and had already
established itself in the Netherlands. The ballad tunes were there
fitted with Dutch words and printed, with the English name at the
head, in most of the miscellaneous collections of songs which appeared
in Holland between 1620 and 1650.
The chief interest of these collections, for us, lies in the fact that
they contain not only the tunes most used in England, but also a certain
number of others, (e.g., I have waked the winters nights, and. the first
xvi EDITOR'S PREFACE.
tune for Come, shepherds, deck your heads,) which are not to be found in
our own books, and are, moreover, slightly different in style from any-
thing we possess. The general correctness of the Dutch versions,
however, which is evident when comparison is possible, quite justifies us
in accepting these, at any rate for the present.
The principal Dutch collections containing English tunes are Friesche
Lust-Hof, by J. Starter, Amsterdam, 1625, &c. ; Neder-Landtsche
Gedenck-Clanck, by Adrian Valerius, Haerlem, 1626, &c. ; Le Secret des
Muses, by Nicolas Vallet, Amsterdam, 1618 and 1619 (Lute).
A MSS. song book, dated 1626, and bearing the name of Giles
Earle as owner, (B.M. Addl. MSS." 24,665,) has enabled me to give for
the first time the long-lost original tune of Dulcina, and has afforded
material for comparision in many other cases.
Another collection which has proved exceedingly useful, chiefly for
the purpose of comparison, is "Songs and Fancies, to Three, Four, or Five
Parts. Both apt for Voices and Viols Aberdene, printed by John
Forbes." Nothing but the Cantus part of this work remains, and of
that nothing earlier than the second edition, 1666.
The last source to be mentioned here, — for later ones are noticed at
the beginning of the second volume, — is Play ford's Dancing Master. This
great collection of unaccompanied tunes first appeared during the Com-
monwealth, in 1650, and was continued almost yearly through numerous
editions, the most important of which were carefully described by our
author in a note to the former edition of this work, here given below.1
The versions of old tunes contained in The Dancing Master are some-
times good, though more often corrupt ; but the work may of course
be relied upon for a true account of the contemporary melodies. These,
though they reveal . very plainly the great changes which were at this
1 The first edition of this collection is en- "Printed for John Playford," in 1652 (112
titled ' ' The English Dancing Master : or pages of music). The two next editions, those
Plaine and easie rules for the dancing of Coun^ of 1657 and 1665, each contain 132 country
try Dances, with the tune to each dance (104 dances, and are counted by Playford as one
pages of music). Printed by Thomas Harperj edition. To both were added "the tunes of
and are to be sold by John Playford, at his the most usual French dances, and also other
shop in the Inner Temple, neere the Church new and pleasant English tunes for the treble
doore." The date is 1651, but it was entered Violin." That of 1665 was " Printed by W. G.,
at Stationers' Hall on 7th Nov., 1650. This and sold byj. Playford and Z.Watkins, at their
edition is on larger paper than any of the sub- shop in the Temple." It has 88 tunes for
sequent. The next is " The Dancing Master, the violin ai the end. (The tunes for the
.... with the tune to each dance, to be violin were afterwards printed separately as
play'd on the trebleJVioHn : the second edition, Ajwllcfs Banquet, and are not included in any
enlarged and corrected from manygrosse errors, other edition of The Dancing Master.} The
which were in the former edition." This was date of the fourth edition is 1670 (155 pages of
EDITOR'S PREFACE. xvii
time taking place in music, and the subsidence of the sixteenth century
energy, display also the rise of a new character of great beauty ; and it
may be said that this collection, by its preservation of such tunes
as Gathering Peascods and The Beggar Boy, for instance, has established
a claim to be considered by musicians as something more than merely
one of the most voluminous sources we possess.
THE only other matter about which anything need be said here is the
accompaniment of the tunes. The alterations in many of the signa-
tures which were necessary in order to restore their original form, also
rendered many of the settings made by the late Sir G. Macfarren for
the former work no longer applicable; and it became my duty to decide
upon some method of dealing with these cases. At the outset, two
alternatives naturally presented themselves : either to provide new
settings, in harmony of the same modern character as before ; or to
give the whole of the earlier tunes without accompaniment of any kind.
Upon consideration, however, neither of these alternatives seemed
possible. All melody, to modern ears, implies some sort of harmony ; -
that is to say, the impression made upon the hearer's musical sense is
complicated by a reminiscence of the sounds by which, in his experience,
such a passage has been most commonly supported ; and since the
systems of harmony proper to each of the two well-defined periods of
musical history differ widely, it follows that to present old melody
without accompaniment is to expose it to the risk of being misunderstood
by the modern hearer, and that to accompany it with modern harmonies
is actually to change its character.
The course most in accordance with my own wishes would have
been to adopt the contemporary settings, whenever and wherever they
music). Fifth edition, 1675, and 160 pages of ford," and great changes made in the airs. It
music. (The contents of the sixth edition are has 220 pages, — date, 1690. The ninth edition,
ascertained to be almost identical with the 196 pages, — date, 1695. "The second part
fifth, by the new tunes added to the seventh of the Dancing Master," 24 pages, — date,
being marked with *, but I have not seen a 1696. The tenth edition, 215 pages,— date,
copy. From advertisements in Playford's other 1698; also the second edition of the second
publications, it appears to have been printed in part, ending on p. 48 (irregularly paged), 1698.
1680.) The seventh edition bears date 1686 The eleventh is the first edition in the new tied
(208 pages), but to this "an additional sheet," note, 312 pages,— date, 1701. The twelfth
containing 32 tunes, was first added, then "a edition goes back to the old note, 354 pages, —
new additional sheet " of 12 pages, and lastly date, 1703. The later editions are well known,
" a new edition " of 6 more. The eighth but the above are scarce,
edition was " Printed by E. Jones for H. Play
xviii EDITOR'S PREFACE.
could be found, for voices, lute, or virginals ; but since the traditions of
this work require a pianoforte rendering, that course also was impossible.
Vocal settings, which demand a separate chord for every note of the
tune, were often too heavy in character for the piano. In the lute settings,
on the other hand, the harmony, owing to conditions inevitable from the
nature of the instrument, was too bare and scattered, as the one example
I have given (The Frog Galliard} will, I think, show. With regard to
the music for the virginals— a keyed instrument — the case was some-
what different, and I have, fortunately, been able to give as many as
fourteen settings from this source. I should have inserted many more were
it not that most of them are so elaborate, so florid and intricate in the
inner parts, that they could only be performed by players of great
experience. Even those which seemed simple enough for the purposes
of this work may not perhaps always be considered very suitable for the
pianoforte ; the often wide distance between the tune and its accom-
paniment, and the complete filling up of chords in the bass, will probably
not prove so agreeable upon the resonant modern instrument as upon
the old one with its thinner quality of sound. But these defects, if they
be so considered, I must beg the reader to tolerate, and, if possible, to
accustom his ear to, on account of the extreme value of these com-
positions, not only as examples of the great English school of writing
for keyed instruments from which all others have sprung, but also, and
more to our present purpose, as showing in perfection the kind of
harmony upon which the old tunes rested in the mind of a contemporary
hearer.
For the remainder of the tunes earlier than 1650 I have myself made,
as well as I could, settings in four-part harmony, in which both the
restrictions observed and the allowances taken are according to the
practice of English musicians of the latter half of the sixteenth century.
If it be objected that the use of this kind of harmony for the tunes which
date from before 1550 is inconsistent with the principle, laid down above,
upon which modern harmony was excluded from settings of modal
tunes, I can only say that though the principle is sound there must be
limits to its application. As we ascend to the beginnings of the art we
come to a time when harmony was so undeveloped as to be useless ; and
there is no choice but either to leave the tunes of this early date
unaccompanied, or to explain them by the harmony at which we may
be sure the rude efforts of the time were aiming, because we know that
they ultimately attained to it. For a like reason the accompaniments
of the former work in modern harmony have been preserved in the
EDITOR'S PREFACE. xix
present edition for all the tunes which date from 1650 onwards. Sir
George Macfarren's harmony may be more advanced than anything the
composers of that time could have imagined, but it represents the goal
towards which they were unconsciously striving.
Sir George Macfarren's accompaniments are distinguished in the
present edition by the initial M at the head ; the settings from the
Virginal books bear the names of their composers in full ; mine are
marked with a star.
LONDON,
January, 1893.
TABLE OF TUNES
CONTAINED IN THE
FIRST VOLUME,
The Tunes marked with a dagger are new in this Edition.
SONGS AND BALLADS.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
PAGE
Sumer is icumen in . . . . . . 10
The Song of Agincourt . . . . 25
Nowell, Nowell . . . . . . 30
Ah ! the Sighs 35
Western Wind i 37
t „ ii 38
f Cull to me the Rushes Green . . 38
PAGE
Blow thy horn, hunter . . . . 39
Pastime with good Company . . 42
TWhereto should I express . . 45
By a bank as I lay .. . . . . 46
fl have been a foster . . . . 50
I loathe that I did love . . . . 52
Now Robin, lend to me thy bow . . 53
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Walsingham
My little pretty one .
tHow can the tree
Sick, sick
i „ »
There were three Ravens . .
Fortune
All in a garden green i.
„ ii. . .
Light o' love . .
"Calino casturame
The hunt is up
John Dory
Whoop, do me no harm, good
'Heart's-ease i.
"
What if a day
Loth to depart i
ii
tO Mistress mine i. . -
v ii
Willow, willow
.. 69
.. 72
•• 73
.. 74
•• 75
.. 76
.. 79
.. 8i
.. 82
.. 84
.. 86
•• 93
96
97
98
100
102
102
103
105
106
man
0 Death, rock me asleep . . . . 1 1 1
It was a lover and his lass . . ..114
With my flock as walked I . . . . 1 16
Walking in a country town . . 117
The woods so wild 119
tCome o'er the bourne, Bessy . . 121
Come live with me, and be my love 123
The noble Shirve 126
Row well, ye mariners . . . . 127
Since first I saw your face . . . . 129
•j-Well-a-day 130
f Essex's last good night . . . . 132
We be soldiers three . . . . 133
We be three poor mariners . . 1,34
Yonder comes a courteous Knight 1 36
Who liveth so merry . . . . 137
1 have house and land in Kent . . 138
Martin said to his man . . . . 140
Of all the birds 141
The wedding of the frog and mouse 142
The Cramp 143
Remember, O thou man . . . . 144
XX11
TABLE OF TUNES.
PAGE
Go from my window . . . . 146
The Shepherd's joy, or Bara Fostus
dream . . . . . . . . 148
Up, tails all . . . . . . . . 149
Daphne . . . . . . . 1 50
Malt's come down . . . . ..151
Lord Willough by, or Lord Willough-
by's march, or Lord Willoughby's
welcome home .. .. ..152
My Robin is to the greenwood gone,
or Bonny sweet Robin . .
•fine leaves be green, or Browning.
In sad and ashy weeds
t Daphne and Corydon
Willy and Cuddy ..
Hanskin, or Jog on . . . . .
tDulcina i.
153
154
156
157
158
159
1 60
„ ii. .. .. ..162
\ Rosamond i. . . . . . . . . 163
ii 165
Shepherd, saw thou not, or Crimson
Velvet 166
{•Come, Shepherds, deck your heads i. 168
„ „ „ ii. 169
PAGE
The fairest nymph the valleys . . 170
fWhen Phoebus add rest . . . . 172
fl have waked the winter's nights . . 174
Tom a Bedlam . . . . . . 175
Gray's Inn Masque, or Mad Tom,
or New Mad Tom of Bedlam . . 179
Troy Town . . . . . . . . 183
tWhen as the Greeks did enterprise 184
The Spanish Gipsy . . . . . . 186
Newcastle . . . . . . . . 188
Love will find out the way . . . . 189
I'll never love thee more . . . . 190
Now the spring is come . . . . 194
Gather ye rosebuds . . . . . . 196
Three merry men 197
The hunter in his career, or Basse's
Career . . 198
1 1 live not where I love . . . . 200
Once I loved a maiden fair . . 201
Shall I wasting in despair . . . . 202
t Hey, then up go we 204
Vive le Roy 209
When the king enjoys his own again 210
DANCE TUNES.
Dance tune circ. 1 260 215
EARLIER SIXTEENTH-CENTURY DANCE MUSIC.
f A Hornepype. .
fThe Crooke . .
218 I fPoor man's Dump . .
220 I fMy Lady Carey's Dumpe
221
222
LATER SIXTEENTH-CENTURY DANCE TUNES
Trenchmore i.
t „ »•
fThe shaking of the sheets
Dargison
Rogero
tLa Volta
Pretty Nancy
Lusty Gallant
All flowers of the broom
Turkeylony
Green Sleeves
Staines Morris
Peg-a-Ramsey
Canst thou not hit it
224
225
228
230
231
232
234
234
236
237
239
243
248
249
Wigmore's Galliard 250
The Spanish Pavan 251
The carman's whistle . . . . 253
The Gipsies' Round 255
Sellenger's Round, or the Beginning
of the World .. ..256
Packington's Pound 259
Mall Sims 261
Nancy, or Sir Edward Noel's
Delight ; or All you that love
good fellows
Watkin's Ale . .
Paul's Wharf. .
Wolsey's Wild
262
265
266
267
TABLE OF TUNES.
John, come kiss me now
Barley Break. .
f- Wanton Season
Robin Hood
The Frog Galliard . .
PAGE
268
, 270
. 272
- 273
• 274
t Quodling's Delight . .
The chirping of the lark
Mall Peatley
The Cobbler's Jig . .
xxiii
PAGE
. 276
. 277
. 278
. 279
EARLIER SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY DANCE TUNES.
Old Simon the king 280
Paul's steeple, or I am the Duke of
Norfolk 282
The friar and the nun . . . . 286
Joan Sanderson, or the Cushion
Dance . . . . . . . . 287
The shepherd's daughter . . . . 289
Pepper's black . . . . . . 290
The merry, merry milkmaids . . 290
Millfield .. .. -.293
Fain I would . . . . . . . . 293
fParthenia 295
The maid peeped out at the window,
or the Friar in the well . . . . 296
The London gentlewoman, or the
Hemp-dresser . . . . . - 297
Stingo, or the Oil of Barley, or Cold
and Raw 298
Gathering peascods . . . . . . 301
Half Hannikin . . . . . . 302
Who list to lead a soldier's life . . 303
Under and over . . . . . . 304
Cuckolds all a row . . . . . . 306
The beggar boy . . . . . . 307
Boatman . . . . . . . . 308
Trip and go . . . . . . . . 309
Tom Tinker 310
Have at thy coat old woman, or
Stand thy ground old Harry . . 311
Bobbing Joe . . . . . . . . 312
The Health 313
tHyde Park .. . . 314
Room for company .. .. .. 316
Prince Rupert's March . . . 317
Upon a summer's day . . . . 318
Lady lie near me . . . . . . 319
A health to Betty . . . . . . 320
Lull me beyond thee . . . . 320
Nonesuch, or A la mode de France 322
The Glory of the North . . . . 323
The Glory of the West . . . . 323
SONGS AND BALLADS.
PART I.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
THE beginning of all popular art-practice is obscure, and the popular
use of music in England affords no exception to the rule. What was
the first nature of that music, what changes it may have undergone in
the earlier periods of this country's history, to what modifications it
submitted later as a consequence of the establishment of a learned music
at its side, we cannot so much as guess. At first, for proof even of its
continued existence, often, for many years together, we have to be
content with the allusions of chroniclers to the persons whose profession
it was to make and sing it ; and if we define popular music strictly, as
music made among^ thgj3_eople and for the people, it is not until we come
to speak of the sixteenthL century that it will be possible to present a
perfect specimen. As early as the thirteenth century compositions are
to be found of which we may say that their popular origin or popular
use is probable, but backward from thence there is nothing even of that
kind, and we find ourselves in the darkness and uncertainty of which we
spoke at the outset.
But that even in the very earliest times the inhabitants of this
CDuntry were acquainted with music of some sort is a fact established by
the testimony of the first accounts of them which we possess. The
works of those classical historians and geographers who have touched,
in their descriptions, upon the manners and customs of our British
a ad Teutonic ancestors all bear witness to the great importance, in this
country and in Germany, of the narrative song, and to the immense
power and influence exercised through this means by the Bards, men
whose only duty was to celebrate the praises of the national heroes
in verses which they sang to their harps. From other sources we learn
that for the same reason not less reverence was paid by our Scandinavian
B
2 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
forefathers to their Scalds, who, performing amongst them the same
office as the Bards for the Celtic races, were treated as sacred persons,
whose inspiration was directly derived from Odin, the father of the
Gods.
If we seek for some notion of the productions upon which this
power and influence were based, we may perhaps find in the fragments
of old Celtic, Teutonic, and Scandinavian poetry which have been pre-
served some clue to the general drift and style of expression of the
Bardic verses, but there is nothing in existence which can give us any
idea either of the music that accompanied them, or of that in which
the people themselves joined their voices upon occasion.1
The source of their power being to be found as much in the warlike
instincts of the Northern nations as in their love of poetry and music,
these interpreters of the popular spirit maintained their influence arid
dignity through all the sanguinary wars and successive waves of Saxon
and Danish invasion to which this country was subjected (which, so far as
they were concerned, had no other effect but to add to their number), and
continued in it even under the rule of the early Anglo-Saxon kings. But
upon the advent of Christianity in these islands a great change took
place in their condition. The missionaries brought with them the Latin
language, and the Roman ritual and music; and these at once taking the
highest place, and becoming the basis of serious and methodical instruc-
tion, the authority of the Bards and Scalds soon dwindled; their profession
became by degrees definitely secular, and, losing their old names, they came
to be known as Gleemen, or Harpers.2 But that their position, though
deprived of its glory, was still important is sufficiently proved by the
stories related in the early chronicles — those of Ingulphus, William of
Malmesbury, &c. — stories which, though themselves probably fabulous,
could not have existed at all had not the Harper been accustomed to
1 The vague and mysterious description of measure and tune of the battle : seeming rather
the German battle-song to be found in Tacitus an harmony of valour than voices ; and do
affords us no help in this direction, but we affect principally a certain roughness of the
may gather from it that the song could not voice, and a broken confused murmur, by
have been regarded as music from the Roman putting their targets before their- mouths, to
point of view. The passage is in the Descrip- the end their voice by the reverberation might
tion of Germany, i., and is as follows: — "They sound bigger and fuller." (Trans. Savile.)—
go singing to the wars. And have certain ED.
verses, by singing of which .... '2 Geoffrey of Monmouth says that they were
they encourage their people, and by the same called in Latin Joculatores. See also the
song foretell the fortune of the future battle : Doomsday Book ; Gloucestershire, fol. 162,
for they both strike a fear into others, and are col. i. — " Berdic, Joculator Regis, habet iii
themselves stricken with fear, according to the villas," &c.
a con-
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
receive the highest consideration from all classes of people ;
sideration apparently not at all diminished by the assumption, on the
part of the better educated classes, of a share in the practice of music,
both vocal and instrumental.2
1 The story of Baldulph, for instance.
Colgrin, son of that Ella who was elected king
or leader of the Saxons, in the room of Hen-
gist, was shut up in York, and closely be-
sieged by Arthur and his Britons. Baldulph,
brother of Colgrin, seeking to gain access to
him, and to apprise him of a reinforcement
which was coming from Germany, had no
other way to accomplish his design but by
assuming the character of a Harper. He
herefore shaved his head and beard, and,
dressing himself in the habit of that profession,
.ook his harp in his hand. In this disguise he
A-alked up and down the trenches unsuspected,
playing all the while upon his instrument.
By little and little he advanced near to the
walls of the city, and, making himself known
to the sentinels, was in the night drawn up
by a rope.
The story of Alfred in the Danish camp is
well known, and there is another which re-
iates that, about sixty years after, a Danish
king made use of the same disguise to explore
the camp of our king Athelstan. With his
harp in his hand, and dressed like a Harper,
Aulaff, king of the Danes, went among the
Saxon tents ; and, taking his stand by the
1 ing's pavilion, began to play, and was im-
i icdiately admitted. There he entertained
.<v.thelstan and his lords with his singing and his
music, and was at length dismissed with an
1 onourable reward, though his songs might
have disclosed the fact that he was a Dane.
Athelstan was saved from the consequences of
tiis stratagem by a soldier, who had observed
Aulaff bury the money which had been given
him, either from some scruple of honour or
s iperstitious feeling.
We may also judge of the Anglo-Saxon love
fur song from the course pursued by St.
Aldhelme, Abbot of Malmesbury, who died
IK 7°9- Being desirous of instructing his
s mi-barbarous countrymen, he was in the
d lily habit of taking his station on the bridges
and high roads, as if a Gleeman by profession,
enticing the passers by to listen to him, and
tl en intermixing more serious subjects with
his ballads. — GuL Malms, de Pontificalibus^
Lib. 5.
2 The musical instruments principally in use
among the Anglo-Saxons were the Harp, the
Psaltry, the Fidele, and a sort of Horn called
in Saxon " Pip " or Pipe. The Fidele (from
which our word fiddle is derived) was a sort of
viol, played on by a bow. The Psaltry, or
Sawtrie, was strung with wire. The Harp,
however, was the national instrument. In the
Anglo-Saxon Poem of Beowulf it is repeatedly
mentioned :— " There was the noise of the
harp, the clear song of the poet." " There
was song and sound altogether, before Healf-
dene's Chieftains; the wood of joy (harp)
was touched, the song was often sung."
" The beast of war (warrior) touched the
joy of the harp, the wood of pleasure," &c.
.That it was also the favourite musical instru-
ment of the Britons and other Northern nations
in the middle ages, is evident from their
laws, and various passages in their history.
By the laws of Wales (Leges Wallicae), a harp
was one of the three things that were necessary
to constitute a gentleman, or a freeman ; and
none could pretend to that character who had
not one of these favourite instruments, or could
not play upon it. To prevent slaves from
pretending to be gentlemen, it was expressly
forbidden to teach, or to permit, them to play
upon the harp ; and none but the king, the
king's musicians, and gentlemen were allowed
to have harps in their possession. A gentle-
man's harp was not liable to be seized for debt ;
because the want of it would have degraded
him from his rank, and reduced him to that of
a slave. Representations of Anglo-Saxon
harps and pipes will be found in Harl. MSS.
603, which also contains a Rote, in shape like
the lyre of Apollo, but with more strings, and
having a concave back. It agrees with that
which Augustine describes as carried in the
hand of the player, which had a shell or con-
cave piece of wood on it, that caused the strings
to resound, and is much more elegant in shape
than those in Sir John Hawkins's History,
copied from Kircher's Musurgia. A represen-
tation of the Fidele will be found in the Cotton
Collection, Tiberius, c. vi., and in StruU's
•Sports and Pastimes. Both the manuscripts
cited are of the tenth century.
B 2
4 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
The materials are wanting which might enable us to form an idea of
the popular music brought into England by the Normans, but, whatever
it may have been, it seems to have made no impression upon the Anglo-
Saxon inhabitants of this country, who continued to support their com-
patriot Harpers with an enthusiasm and emulation that served to maintain
and encourage them and their productions for a considerable period
after the invasion. That they remained devoted to their own tongue,
notwithstanding the opposition of their conquerors, is sufficiently
plain.
" Of this," says Percy, " we have proof positive in the old metrical
romance of Horn-Child, which, although from the mention of Sarazens,
&c., it must have been written at least after the first crusade in 1096, yet,
from its Anglo-Saxon language, or idiom, can scarcely be dated later
than within a century after the Conquest. This, as appears from its very
exordium, was intended to be sung to a popular audience, whether it was
composed by or for a Gleeman, or Minstrel. But it carries all the
internal marks of being the work of such a composer. It appears of
genuine English growth ; for, after a careful examination, I cannot dis-
cover any allusion to French or Norman customs, manners, composition,
or phraseology : no quotation, ' as the romance sayeth ' : not a name or
local reference which was likely to occur to a French rimeur. The
proper names are all of Northern extraction. Child-Horn is the son of
Allof (i.e., Olaf or Olave), King of Sudenne (I suppose Sweden), by his
queen Godylde, or Godylt. Athulf and Fykenyld are the names of
subjects. Eylmer, or Aylmere, is king of Westnesse (a part of Ireland) ;
Rymenyld is his daughter ; as Erminyld is of another king, Thurstan ;
whose sons are Athyld and Beryld. Athelbrus is steward of king
Aylmer, &c., &c. All these savour only of a Northern origin, and the
whole piece is exactly such a performance as one would expect from a
Gleeman or Minstrel of the north of England, who had derived his art
and his ideas from his Scaldic predecessors there."
Although Ritson disputed the English origin of this romance, Sir
Frederick Madden, in a note to the last edition of Warton's English
Poetry, has proved Percy to be right, and that the French Romance,
Dan Horn (on the same subject as Child-Horn), is a translation from
the English. In the Prologue to another Romance, King Atla, it is
expressly stated that the stories of Aelof (Allof), Tristan and others
had been translated into French from the English.
After the Conquest, the first event at all related to music that we find
any notice of is the founding of the Priory and Hospital of St. Bartholo-
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 5
mew,1 in Smithfield, by Royer, or Raherus, the King's Minstrel, in the
third year of King Henry I., A.D. 1102. And here it should be noticed
that this name of Minstrel, from the French Menetrier or Menestrel, was
brought to us by the Normans, and that it was henceforward in common
use together with the old name of Harper. The name of Gleeman was
soon quite forgotten.
In the reign of King Henry II., Galfrid or Jeffrey, a Harper, received
in 1 1 80 an annuity from the Abbey of Hide, near Winchester ; and, as
every Harper was expected to sing,2 we cannot doubt that this reward
was bestowed for his music and his songs, which, as Percy says, if they
were for the solace of the monks there, we may conclude would be in
the English language. The more rigid monks, however, both here and
abroad, were greatly offended at the honours and rewards lavished on
Minstrels. John of Salisbury, who lived in this reign, thus declaims
against the extravagant favour shown to them : " For you do not, like
the fools of this age, pour out rewards to Minstrels (Histriones et
Mimos.3) and monsters of that sort, for the ransom of your fame, and the
enlargement of your name." — (Epist. 247.)
But the songs of Minstrels accompanied upon their harps were no
longer the only musical diversions of the people of this country ; we
now begin to discover in the narratives of several contemporary
historians of this period mention of songs sung by the people them-
selves, frequently in parts.
About 1159, when Thomas a Becket conducted the negociations
for the marriage of Henry II.'s eldest son with the daughter of
Louis VII., and went to Paris, with a great retinue, as chancellor of the
English monarch, we are told that he entered the French towns,
"preceded by two hundred and fifty boys on foot, in groups of six,
1 Vide the Monasticon, torn. ii. pp. 166-67, 1481, see Lord Howard's agreement with
for a curious history of this priory and its William Wastell, Harper of London, to teach
founder. Also Stowe's Survey. In the a boy named Colet " to harp and to sing."
Pleasaunt History of Thomas of Reading, 4to. 3 Histrio, Mimus, Joculator, and Minis-
1662, he is likewise mentioned. His monu- trallus are all nearly equivalent terms for
ment, in good preservation, may yet be seen Minstrels in Mediaeval Latin. "Incepit more
in the parish church of St. Bartholomew, in Histrionico fabulas dicere, et plerumque can-
Smithfield, London. tare." " Super quo Histriones cantabant,
2 So in Horn-Child, K. Allof orders his sicut modo cantatur de Rolando et Oliveno."
steward, Athelbrus, to " teche him of harpe "Dat sex Mimis Domini Clynton, cantantibus,
and song." And Chaucer, in his description citharisantibus, ludentibus,"£c. 43. Geoffrey
of the Limitour or Mendicant Friar, speaks of of Monmouth uses Joculator as equivalent tc
harping as inseparable from singing— "in his Citharista, in one place, and to Cantor m
harping, when that he had sung." Also in another. See Notes to Percy's Essay.
O THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
ten, or more together, singing English songs, according to the custom of
their country."1
And about 1185, Gerald Barry, or Giraldus Cambrensis, arch-
deacon of St. David's,2 gave the following description of the peculiar
manner of singing of the Welsh, and the inhabitants of the North
of England : " The Britons do not sing their tunes in unison, like
the inhabitants of other countries, but in different parts. So that when
a company of singers meets to sing, as is usual in this country-, as many
different parts are heard as there are singers, who all finally unite in
consonance and organic melody, under the softness of B flat In the
northern parts of Britain, beyond the H umber, and on the borders of
Yorkshire, the inhabitants make use of a similar kind of symphonious
harmony in singing, but with only two differences or varieties of tone
and voice, the one murmuring the under part, the other singing the
upper in a manner equally soft and pleasing. This they do, not so
much by art, as by a habit peculiar to themselves, which long practice
has rendered almost natural, and this method of singing has taken such
deep root among this people, that hardly any melody is accustomed to
be uttered simply, or otherwise than in many parts by the former, and
in two parts by the latter. And what is more astonishing, their children,
as soon as they begin to sing, adopt the same manner. But as not all
the English, but only those of the North sing in this manner, I believe
they had this art at first, like their language, from the Danes and Nor-
wegians, who were more frequently accustomed to occupy, as well as
longer to retain, possession of those parts of the island."3 The
1 " In ingressu Gallicanarum villarum et tonorum differentiis et vocum modulando
castrorum, primi veniebant garciones pedites varietatibus, una inferius submurmurante
quasi ducenti quinquaginta, gregatim euntes altera vero supernfc demulcente pariter et
sex vel deni, vel plures simul, aliquid lingua delectante. Nee arte tantum sed usu longaevo
sua pro more patrise suae cantantes. "— Stephan- et quasi in naturam mora diutinajamconverso,
ides, Vita S, Thoma Cantuar, pp. 20, 21. hsec vel ilia sibi gens hanc specialitatem com-
2 For an interesting account of Giraldus see paravit. Qui adeo apud utramque invaluit et
Gerald the Welshman, by H. Owen, B.C.L., altas jam radices posuit, ut nihil hie simpliciter,
London, Whiting, 1889. ubi multipliciter ut apud priores, vel saltern
3 "In musico modulamine non uniformiter ut dupliciter ut apud sequentes, mellite proferri
alibi, sed multipliciter multisque modis et consueverit. Pueris etiam (quod magis admi-
modulis cantilenas emittunt, adeo ut in turba randum) et fere infantibus (cum primum a
canentium, sicut huic genti mos est, quot fletibus in cantus erumpunt) eandem modula-
videas capita tot audias carmina discriminaque tionem observantibus. Angli vero quoniam
vocum varia, in unam denique sub B mollis non generaliter omnes sed boreales solum
dulcedine blanda consonantiam et organicam hujusmodi vocum utuntur modulationibus, credo
convenientia melodiam. In borealibus quoque quod a Dacis et Norwagiensibus qui paries
majoris Britannise partibus trans Humbrum, illas insulse frequentius occupare ac diutius
Eboracique finibus Anglorum populi qui partes obtinere solebant, sicut loquendi affinitatem,
illas inhabitant simili cauendo symphonica sic canendi proprietatem contraxerunt." — Cam-
utuntur harmonia : binis tamen solummodo brite Descriptio, cap. xiii.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 7
character and attainments of Giraldus were such that this passage,
though not a little surprising, may be taken as perfectly good evidence
that in Wales they made descant to their tunes, in the same way that
singers did to the plain song or Canto fermo of the Church at the same
period ; as also that singing in two parts was common in the North
of England, and that children tried to imitate it.1
In the reign of Richard I. (i 189) minstrelsy flourished with peculiar
splendour. The king's romantic temper, and moreover his own
proficiency in the art, made him the patron not only of chivalry, but also
of those who celebrated its exploits. His release from the castle of
Durrenstein, on the Danube, by the stratagem and fidelity of his
Minstrel Blondel, is a story so well known that it is needless to repeat it
here.2
Another circumstance which proves how easily Minstrels could
always gain admittance even into enemies' camps and prisons occurred
in this reign. The young heiress of D'Evreux, Earl of Salisbury, was
carried abroad, and secreted by her French relations in Normandy. To
discover the place of her concealment, a knight of the Talbot family
spent two years in exploring that province, at first under the disguise of
a pilgrim ; but having found where she was confined, in order to gain
admittance he assumed the dress and character of a Harper, and, being a
person exceedingly skilled in ' the Gests of the Ancients,' — so they
called the romances and stories which were the delight of that age,
— he was gladly received into the family, whence he took an opportunity
to carry off the lady. — (Percy.)
In the reign of king John (1212) the English Minstrels did good
service to Ranulph, or Randal, Earl of Chester. He, being besieged in
his Castle of Rothelan (or Rhuydland), sent for help to De Lacy, Con-
stable of Chester, who with the assistance of the Minstrels of all sorts
then met at Chester fair assembled such a vast number of people (whom
lie sent forth under the conduct of a gallant youth, named Button, his
steward and son-in-law), that the Welsh, supposing them to be a
1 As for the reflections of Giraldus upon the The difference which the historian observed
origin of this method, it is far more probable between this rude performance and the music
that the people of Northumberland had it from made upon strict rules of art, would naturally
the monks of Weremouth (who were among arise under the circumstances, and would be-
the first in this country to receive instruction come more apparent from the fact that their
in music from Rome, and at this time had descant was applied, not to ecclesiastical
l>een already for four centuries in possession of melodies, but to some of their popular songs,
the art,) than from the Danes and Norwegians, — ED.
who cannot, upon any known evidence what- 2 See Wright's Biograph. Brit,, Anglo-
ever, be credited with a knowledge of descant. Norman Period, p. 325.
8 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC
regular body of armed and disciplined soldiers instantly raised the
siege and retired. For this deed of service to Ranulph, both De Lacy
and Dutton had, by respective charters, patronage and authority over
the Minstrels and others, who, under the descendants of Dutton,
enjoyed certain privileges and protection for many ages. Even so
late as the reign of Elizabeth, when this profession had fallen into
such discredit that it was considered in law a nuisance, the Minstrels
under this jurisdiction are expressly excepted out of all Acts of
Parliament made for their suppression, and have continued to be so
excepted ever since.1
We have innumerable particulars, collected by Warton and others,
of the good cheer and great rewards given to the Minstrels in many
of the convents. But one instance, quoted from Wood's Hist Antiq.
Ox., vol. i. p. 67, during the reign of King Henry III. (sub. an.
1224), deserves particular mention. Two itinerant priests, on the sup-
position of their being Minstrels, gained admittance to a grange belong-
ing to the Benedictines of Abingdon. But the prior, and others of the
brethren, who had hoped to have been entertained by their diverting
arts, when they found them to be only two indigent ecclesiastics, and
were consequently disappointed of their mirth, beat them, and turned
them out of the monastery.
In the same reign (1252) we find mention of one Master Richard,
the king's Harper, and of a royal donation to him of forty shillings and a
pipe of wine, and a pipe of wine to Beatrice, his wife. Percy remarks
that the title of Magister, or Master, given to this Minstrel, deserves
notice, and shows his respectable situation
The learned and pious Grosteste, bishop of Lincoln, who died in
1253, is said, in some verses of Robert de Brunne,2 who flourished about
the beginning of the next century, to have been very fond of the
songs and music of the Minstrels. The bishop had written a poem in the
Romance language, called Manuel Peche, the translation of which into
English, Robert de Brunne commenced in 1302, with a design, as he tells
us himself, that it should be sung to the harp at public entertainments.
For levvde [unlearned] men I undertoke That talys and rymys wyl blithly here,
In Englysshe tunge to make thys boke, Yn gamys and festys, and at the ale
For many ben of swyche manere Love men to listene trotevale [triviality].
1 See the statute of Eliz. anno.. 39. cap. iv. ing the exercise of this jurisdiction are de-
entitled an Act for Punishment of Rogues, Vaga- scribed by Dugdale (Bar i., p. 101), and from
bonds, &c. ; also a renewal of the same clauses him, by Percy.
in the last Act on this subject, passed in the 2 Robert Mannyng, prior of Brunne, or
reign of George III. The ceremonies attend- Bourne, in Lincolnshire.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 9
The earliest, and in some respects the most interesting, example
which it is possible to give of the kind of music treated of in the present
work — the now famous Rota, or endless canon, Sumer is icumen in —
occurs in this reign ; the year of its production being, according to the
best authorities, 1240. Sir John Hawkins was the first to draw atten-
tion to this composition, which he printed in score in his History of
Music ; but with respect to its date his judgment was obstructed by an
erroneous belief that counterpoint, otherwise than perfectly plain, was
unknown till the sixteenth century. The opinion of Dr. Burney, who
also printed the canon in score, was evidently affected by that of
his predecessor, though he betrays a certain distrust of it. He first
presents the work as a specimen of the harmony in our country " about
the fourteenth or fifteenth century," while on the same page he tells us
that the notes of the MS. resemble those of Walter Odington's Treatise1
(1230), and seem to be of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and he
c;m hardly imagine the canon much more modern. Then he is " some-
times inclined to imagine" it to have been the production of the
Northumbrians (who, as we have, already seen, used a kind of
natural symphonious harmony), but with additional parts, and a second
drone-base of later times. And again, in reviewing " the most ancient
musical tract that has been preserved in our vernacular tongue" (by
Lyonel Power), he says that the rule prohibiting parallel fifths and
octaves seems to have been so little known or regarded by the com-
poser of the canon, Sumer is icumen in> as to excite a suspicion that
it is " much more ancient than has been imagined." Ritson referred it to
as early a period (at least) as 1250, judging from the MS. only, for he
was no musician ; and his opinion is supported by all the more modern
palaeographical experts, who definitely assign it, as was said above, to
the year 1240.
\Sumer is icumen in fully deserves all the attention it has received, for
it is certainly the most remarkable ancient musical composition in exist-
ence. It contains the earliest canon, and the earliest persistently
re peated bass, as yet discovered ; nor until its date was fixed was
tl ere any suspicion that more than three parts together had ever been
hazarded by any composer of this period.
The sweet and pastoral character of the melody, in perfect accord-
ance with the sentiment of the words, is indicative of a popular origin ;
1 Walter Odington's Treatise is fully de- complete of all the early treatises, whether
scribed in Barney's History of Music, vol. ii. , written here or abroad,
p. 155, et seq. Burney considers it the most
10
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
while the strictness of the canon combined with so harmonious a result
(which could not possibly have been developed by extempore descant)
reveals the hand of a scholastic musician. It is possible, therefore, that
we have in Sumer is icumen in an example of the kind of popular part-
singing described by Giraldus, regulated by some one in possession of the
most advanced musical knowledge of his time.1 The MS. in which it is
found is in the handwriting of one John Fornsete, a monk of Reading,
and from the condition of the page devoted to this composition, which
bears traces of many erasures and alterations, we may perhaps infer that
he was, if not its author, at least the fashioner of its present shape. — ED.]
SUMER IS ICUMEN IN.
B.M., Harl. MSS. 978.
a -N-O i -
r ^ '
^^^ *
_ ,
() P<> !
—
1
rv rv
*— •* *3
f^j •
^r L — rj — J
Su - mer is i - cu - men
-0 , — ..... .
in, . . Lhude sing Cue - cu ;
/ b^ «~
P
•
1
° f
^~H~i ~ f"^ —
m " *>
i i
i
i - i
Su - mer is i - cu - men in, . .
1
/T "fo O L
L
1
•
1
J_
i
S32
1
Q
y i
ZL—3-iJ •
J
•
•
i
m I d
H2
3
^-^ -&- . ^ . -&-
(»). , — j-j — €$ —
—^- — - —
• -
\~/ b f*
1
Sing Cue - cu nu, . . Sing Cue - cu,
•
za ' —
U ^
1
21
^^
^- —
^^ I?
-I 1
Sing cu - cu,
Sing cu - cu nu,
1 Burney has an interesting passage bearing
on this point. He says: "It is a matter of
surprise that so little plain counterpoint is to
be' found, and of this little, none correct,
previous to attempts at imitation, fugue, and
canon ; contrivances to which there was a
very early tendency, in all probability, during
times of extemporary descant, before there
was any such thing as written harmony : for
we find in the most ancient music in parts that
has come down to us, that fugue and canon
had made considerable progress at the time it
was composed. The song, or round, ' Sumer
is icumen in,' is a very early proof of the
cultivation of this art." He then proceeds to
show how, according to Martini, from the con-
stant habit of descanting in successive intervals,
new melodies would be formed in harmony
with the original, and .imitations would naturally
arise.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
II
Grow- eth sed, and blow -eth med And springth the w[o]de nu
2±
•
Lhude sing Cue - cu, Grow - eth sed, and blow - eth med And
Su - mer is i - cu - men in, . . Lhude sing Cue - cu,
Su - mer is i - cu - men in, . .
m
Sing Cue
cu nu,
Sing Cue - cu.
Sing Cue - cu,
Sing Cue - cu nu, . ,
Sing Cue - cu.
Awe blet - eth af - ter loinb,Lhouth
M F
1
springth the w[o]de nu :
Sins: Cue - cu.
Grow - eth sed, and blow - eth med And springth the w[o]de nu :
Lhude sing Cue - cu,
Grow - eth sed, and blow - eth med And
HH
Sing Cue - cu nu . . Sing Cue - cu.
Sing Cue - cu.
Sing Cue • cu
12
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
af - ter calve cu ;
Bui - luc ster - teth, bucke ver - teth
Awe blet - eth af - ter lomb,Lhouthaf - ter calve cu :
Sing Cue - cu.
Awe blet - eth af - terlomb,Lhouth
=s
i
springth the w[o]de nu
Sing cue - cu.
£2£
Sing Cue - cu nu, Sing Cue - cu.
Sin-g Cue - cu,
Sing Cue - cu nu,
—^ 7^-
\—-V
-e^-s
1.
-ra-5
-s> .
-n-i — y^ —
Mu - rie sing Cue - cu.
Cue - cu, Cue - cu. . .
Mb ^ »
&
<*^
i2_
ci> |
1 —
F -i-
TUtl - luc ster - teth, bucke ver - teth, Mu - rie sing Cue - cu,
Of '
u ,
A, \j
1
l
[(TV ^ CJ
VU J <T3
^ ^-J
af - ter
r\
calve cu :
Bui • luc ster - teth, bucke ver - teth
1
1
|
/k \) ^ ^--)-
~?^? (='^~
, 1-
1
1
Awe
ble - teth
af - ter lomb,Lhouth af - ter
^2 * ^^ ^^
calve cu ;
& . .
(g^'fr
^1 1
._t_
Sing
-<S>- .
Cue - cu
nu . . Sing Cue - cu.
ff'^T
1
_
"\ — FL
^
i H 1
Sing Cue - cu.
Sing Cue
cu nu . .
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
Wei singes thu Cue - cu Ne swik thu nav - er
Cue
cu,
Cue ;- cu, Wei Singes thu Cue - cu.
Mu - rie, sing Cue - cu,
I
m
Bui - luc ster - teth, bucke ver - teth Mu - rie sing Cue - cu.
Sing Cue
nu, . . Sing Cue - cu.
g - "p2*""'
Sing Cue - cu,
ORIGINAL WORDS.
Sumer is icumen1 in,
Lhude2 sing Cuccu,
Groweth sed, and bloweth med
And springth the wde nu,
Sing Cuccu.
Awe bleteth after lomb
Lhouth after calve cu ;
Bulluc sterteth, bucke vertetb,3
Murie sing Cuccu,
Cuccu, Cuccu.
Wei singes thu Cuccu
Ne swik thu naver nu.
Sing Cue - cu.
WORDS MODERNIZED.
Summer is come in,
Loud sing, Cuckoo !
Groweth seed, and bloweth mead
And spring'th the wood now,
Sing Cuckoo.
Ewe bleateth after lamb,
Loweth after calf [the] cow ;
Bullock starteth, buck verteth
Merry sing, Cuckoo,
Cuckoo, Cuckoo !
Well sing'st thou, Cuckoo,
Nor cease thou never now.
[From the versions of the Rota hitherto printed in score it appears
that there is a difference of opinion as to the correct translation of
the original notes in certain passages. These are the three conjunct
lozenge notes, the first having an oblique tail, which occur (see bar
4 above) upon the word " in " ; the two notes in ligature (bar 4) upon
1 "Icumen" come (from the Saxon verb 2 Lhude, wde, awe, and calve, are all to be
ctinian, to come) ; so in Robert of Gloucester, pronounced as of two syllables.
" r'paied " for paid. 3 Frequents the green fern.
14 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
the word " nu " in the Pes ; the two also in ligature (bar 40) upon the last
syllable of " cuccu " ; and the square note (followed by a lozenge) upon
the same syllable at its next occurrence (bar 44). Hawkins and Burney
in the last century, followed later by the German historians, and in the
present day by Mr. Rockstro (see his valuable article in Grove's Dictionary
of Music, vol iii. p. 766), translated the three lozenge notes (bar 4) thus :
and the ligatures, and the square note followed
r r*> ~~- by a lozenge, by a semibreve followed by a
" minim. The learned Coussemaker, in his
version published in L'Art Hannonique an « ^3^
XIP et XIIP Sikles, 1865, translates the
three lozenge notes in the following manner : «
and the other passages by a minim followed by a semibreve. He
had not seen the original MS., but as his version did not make
its appearance until ten years after the publication of the coloured
fac-simile in the former edition of this work, it is not probable
that his translation has suffered on that account. Coussemaker was
followed by Sir Frederick Ouseley (in his chapters on English Music
supplementary to Emil Naumann's History, published without date by
Cassell about three years ago) on all points except as regards the three
lozenge notes, which Ouseley represents by two crotchets followed by
a semibreve ; * I cannot pretend to decide which is the more correct,
1 This little figure, which has given rise to orthodox translation in modern notes ; and
so much difference of opinion, was known to in U Art Harmonique, &c., in his remarks
the contemporary writers on the cantus upon the Rota, when he comes to speak of the
mensurabilis as tripunctum plicatum^ but it three lozenge notes, he actually refers to the
is not often described in their works, as passage: " 'Aristotle,' he says, has explained
there were at least three other ways of this figure," or words to that effect. And yet
expressing the same division of time, which he translates it, as we see, with a kind of
were more in favour. It is, however, given appoggiatura, and gives no reason. The rule
by the composer and theorist known under for the plica (which is here represented by the
the pseudonym of " Aristotle," whose treatise oblique tail) is that when it is affixed to a long
belongs to this period, with the following in- or breve, it is always to be taken to mean an
struction : — "Due prime semibreviabiintur ; unwritten grace note, about which many in-
itltimaprofertunujnteinpus,sibrevissequatur; structions are given ; but I have met with no
si autem longa, tune duo tempora donat. " The rule which says that when affixed to a semi-
tempns was a breve. Now, allowing for the breve it may turn, as here, a written note into
reduction of the notes in translation to one- a grace note. But Coussemaker's great ex-
fourth of their original value, Sir F. Ouseley's perience in all that relates to the notation and
rendering is in accordance with this rule, and descant of this period entitles every trans-
would seem to settle the question. But lation of his to respect, and more especially a
Coussemaker had neither overlooked nor for- translation made so late as 1865 ; and it is
gotten the passage from "Aristotle." He more likely that he had discovered some
had already, in his Harmonic du Moyen Age, practical rule which we do not know of, than
given the rule as the one proper to be applied that he should unreasonably contradict in-
under the circumstances, and had shown the formation of his own giving. — ED.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 15
but have adopted Sir F. Ouseley's rendering of the passage for this work,
as being less embarrassing to the general musical reader.
To this reign also belongs in all probability, though possibly to the
early years of the following one, the interesting composition discovered
among the Douce MSS. in the Bodleian Library (apparently a dance
tune), of which a small portion was printed by J. Stafford Smith in his
Musica Antiqua. It need only be referred to here, as a full account of it
is given on page 215 of this volume, where it will be found printed
c:ntire. — ED.]
We are indebted to the domestic business papers of Edward I. for a
number of valuable documents (Royal Wardrobe Accounts, &C.1), which
throw considerable light upon the condition of the professional musicians
at the end of the thirteenth century. It would appear that they were
row a recognized body, of respectable status, organized in much the
same way as the heralds, and rewarded for their services, especially
upon great occasions, upon an extremely liberal scale. Such, at all
events, are the conclusions which it would seem natural to draw from
the following particulars.
In the Wardrobe Book, 18, Edward I.,2 are the accounts of expenses
connected with the marriage of Queen Eleanor's daughter Joan, sur-
named of Acre, to the Earl of Gloucester, in May, 1290, and of Margaret,
her fifth daughter, to John, son of the Duke of Brabant, in the following
July. Both ceremonies were conducted with much splendour, and a
multitude of minstrels flocked from all parts to Westminster. To the
first came, among others, King Grey of England, King Caupenny from
Scotland, and Poveret, minstrel of the Mareschal of Champagne : the
second drew together as many as 426 minstrels, as well English as
others, amongst whom Walter de Storton, the king's harper, distributed
a hundred pounds, or about i,5OO/. in modern value, the gift of the
bridegroom. But the rewards were not always in money, for in 1291, in
the accounts of the executors of Queen Eleanor, there is an entry of
a payment of 39^, for a cup purchased, to be given to one of the
king's minstrels.
Another document in the same collection contains the names of those
who attended the cour plenttre held by King Edward at the Feast of
Whitsuntide, 1306, preparatory to the expedition to Scotland to avenge
1 Introduction to Manners and Household London. Printed for the Roxburghe Club,
Expenses of England in the 13th and I5th 1841.
Centuries, illustrated by original records. 416. 2 Rot. Miscell. in Turr. Lond. No. 56.
16 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
the murder of John Comyn, and the revolt of the Scotch. On this
occasion there were present six kings of the minstrels, five of whom,
viz., Le Roy de Champaigne, Le Roy Capenny, Le Roy Boisescue,
Le Roy Marchis, and Le Roy Robert, received each five marks, or
3/. 6s. 8d., about 5<D/. of our money ; the sixth, Le Roy Druet, received
only three marks. Le Roy de Champaigne was probably Poveret, the
minstrel of the Mareschal of Champagne, of 1290; Le Roy Capenny,
" King Caupenny from Scotland," and Le Roy Robert, whom we know
to have been the English king of the minstrels by other payments made
to him by the Crown (see Anstis' Register of the Order of the Garter,
vol. ii. p. 300), was probably the " King Grey of England " of the former
date. Among the proper names we find, Northfclke, Carietone, Ricard
de Haleford, Adam de Werintone (Warrington ?), Adam de Grimme-
shawe, Merlin, Lambyn, Clay, Fairfax, Hanecocke de Blithe, Richard
Wheatacre, Robert de Colecestria, John de Salopia, and Robert de
Scardeburghe, &c. The harpers (who are in the majority where the
particular branch of minstrelsy is specified), are generally mentioned
only by their Christian names, as Laurence, Mathew, Richard,
John, Robert, and Geoffrey, but there are also Richard de
Leylonde, William de Grimesar, William de Duffelde, John de
Trenham, &c., as well as Adekyn, harper to the Prince, who was
probably a Welsh bard ; others are distinguished as the harpers of the
Bishop of Durham, Abbot of Abyngdon, Earls of Warrenne, Gloucester,
&c. ; one is Guillaume sans maniere ; another, Reginald le menteur ;
a third is called Makejoye ; and a fourth, Perle in the eghe. Besides
these were the nameless rank and file; described as menestraus de la
commune. The total sum expended was about 2OO/., which, according
to the usual estimate, would be equal to about 3,ooo/. of our money.
The minstrels seem, as was said above, to have been in many
respects upon the same footing as the heralds ; and the King of the
Heralds, like the King at Arms, was both here and on the Continent an
usual officer in the courts of princes. Heralds seem even to have been
included with minstrels in the preceding account, for Carietone, who
occupies a fair position among them, receiving I/, as a payment, and $s.
as a gratuity, is in the latter case described as Carleton " Plaralde."
In the reign of Edward II., besides other grants to " King Robert,"
before mentioned, there is one in the sixteenth year of his reign to
William de Morlee, "The king's minstrel, styled Roy de North" of houses
that had belonged to John le Boteler, called Roy Brunhaud. So, among
heralds, Norroy was usually styled Roy d Armes de North (Anstis, ii.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. i;
300), and the Kings at Arms in general were originally called Reges
Heraldorum, as these were Reges Minstrallorum.1 — Percy's Essay.
The proverbially lengthy pedigrees of the Welsh were registered by
their bards, who were also heralds.2
Such extensive privileges were claimed by the travelling musicians,
and by dissolute persons assuming their character, that their behaviour
became a matter of public grievance, and a royal decree was issued in
1315 to regulate it, of which the following is an extract : —
"Edward by the grace of God, &c. to sheriffes, &c. greetyng,
Forasmuch as . . .many idle persons, under colour of Mynstrelsie, and
going in messages, and other faigned business, have ben and yet be
receaved in other mens houses to meate and drynke, and be not therwith
contented yf they be not largely consydered with gyftes of the lordes
of the houses : &c. . . . We wyllyng to restrayne suche outrageous
enterprises and idleness, &c. have ordeyned . . . that to the houses of
prelates, earles, and barons, none resort to meate and drynke, unlesse he
be a Mynstrel, and of these Minstrels that there come none except
it be three or four Minstrels of honour at the most in one day,
unlesse he be desired of the lorde of the house. And to the houses of
meaner men that none come unlesse he be desired, and that such as
shall come so, holde themselves contented with meate and drynke, and
with such curtesie as the maister of the house wyl shewe unto them of
his owne good wyll without their askyng of any thyng. And yf any
1 Heralds and minstrels seem to have been of state. The Arwyddvardd^ in early Cam-
on nearly the same footing abroad. For brian history, was an officer of national
instance, Froissart tells us "The same day appointment, who, at a later period, was
th' Erie of Foix gave to Heraudes and succeeded by the Prydydd, or Poet. One of
Minstrelhs the somme of fyve hundred these was to attend at the birth, marriage, and
frankes ; and gave to the Duke of Tourayn's death of any man of high descent, and to
Mir.strelles gowns of Cloth of Gold, furred enter the facts in his genealogy. The
with Ermyns, valued at two hundred frankes." Marwnad, or Elegy, composed at the decease
— Chronicle Ed. 1525, book iii. ch. xxxi. of such a person, was required to contain truly
2 •' The Welshman's pedigree was his title- and at length his genealogy and descent ; and
deed, by which he claimed his birthright in to commemorate the survivor, wife or husband,
the country. Every one was obliged to shew with her or his descent and progeny. The
his descent through nine generations, in order particulars were registered in the books of the
to be acknowledged a free native, and by Arwyddvardd, and a true copy therefrom
which right he claimed his portion of land in delivered to the heir, to be placed among the
the community. Among a people where authentic documents of the family. The Bard's
surnames were not in use, and where the fee, or recompense, was a stipend out of every
right of property depended on descent, an plough land in the district; and he made a
attention to pedigree was indispensable. triennial Bardic circuit to correct and arrange
Hence arose the second order of Bards, who genealogical entries. "—Extracted from Mey-
were the Arwyddveirdd, or Bard- Heralds, rick's Introduction to his edition of Lewis
whose duty it was to register arms and Durnt s Heraldic Visitation s of Wales, 2 vols. ,
pedigrees, as well as undertake the embassies 4to. Llandovery, 1846.
C
1 8 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
one do agaynst this Ordinaunce, at the firste tyme he to lose his
Minstrelsie, and at the second tyme to forsweare his craft, and never to
be receaved for a Minstrel in any house. . . . Geven at Langley the vi.
day of August, in the ix yere of our reigne." — H earners Append, ad
Leland Collect., vol. vi. p. 36.
Stowe, in his Survey of London, in an estimate of the annual expenses
of the Earl of Lancaster about this time, mentions a large disbursement
for the liveries of the minstrels, and this seems to be the first allusion to
anything in their dress, distinctive of special patronage. That they
received vast quantities of money and costly habiliments from the
nobles, we learn from many authorities ; and in a poem on the times
of Edward II., knights are recommended to adhere to their proper
costume lest they be mistaken for minstrels.1
" Knytes schuld weare clothes That no man may knowe
I-schape in dewe manere, A mynstrel from a knygt
As his order wold aske, Well ny :
As wel as schuld a frere : So is mekenes fait adown
Now thei beth [are] disgysed, And pride aryse an hye."
So diverselych i-digt [bedight], Percy Soc., No. 82, p. 23.
That minstrels, even when not under special patronage, were usually
known by their dress, is shown by the following anecdote, which is
related by Stowe: — "When Edward II. this year (1316) solemnized the
feast of Pentecost, and sat at table in the great hall of Westminster,
attended by the peers of the realm, a certain woman, dressed in t/te
habit of a Minstrel, riding en a great horse> trapped in the Minstrel
1 In a MS. of the thirteenth century, in the favourable moment for giving her decision
library of the Arsenal, .at Paris, is a little pic- upon the point in question. The dress of the
ture representing a reception of the minstrel minstrel is a loose surcoat reaching to mid-leg,
Adenes li Rois by Queen Mary of France, with a small hood, exactly similar to that worn
which gives a very striking idea not only of by the prince. The dresses of the queen and
the dress of this class of people, but also of the princess are parti-coloured, and embroidered
extraordinary degree of familiarity to which with heraldic lilies and leopards ; the minstrel's
the most favoured of them were admitted by surcoat also bears a large heraldic device,
persons of exalted rank. The queen reclines which appears to contain the leopard, but not
upon a couch, a princess sits beside her, and a the lilies. This little picture has been copied
prince kneels at her feet. In the middle of in Naumann's History of Music \ and in the
the composition is the minstrel, a most elegant same work will be found another of similar
person, kneeling upon a cushion. His instru- date, from a MS. in the Manesse Collection at
ment (apparently a small kind of lute) has Paris, which represents Heinrich von Meissen,
been taken charge of by the prince, and he is the last of the Minnesingers. He wears a
leaning, much at ease, against the queen's more ample gown than the French minstrel, a
couch, with his left arm thrown across her garment not unlike the English peer's robe,
knees. In this picturesque attitude he with an ermine tippet, but which bears, as the
seems to be carrying on a discussion with the other does, an heraldic device, in this case
prince and princess, while the queen, who is chevrons. — ED,
smelling at a rose, apparently awaits the
I THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 19
fashion, entered the hall, and going round the several tables, acting
the part of a Minstrel, at length mounted the steps to the royal table,
on which she deposited a letter. Having done this, she turned her
horse, and, saluting all the company, she departed." The subject
of this letter was a remonstrance to the king on the favours heaped
by him on his minions to the neglect of his faithful servants. The
door-keepers being called, and threatened for admitting such a
woman, readily replied, "that it never was the custom of the king's
palace to deny admission to Minstrels, especially on such high solemnities
and feast days."
A striking representation of the dress and accoutrements of pro-
fessional musicians is to be seen upon the capital of a column in
St. Mary's Church, Beverley, which bears the inscription, " Thys pillor
made the meynstyrls." Five men are there shown, four in short coats,
reaching to the knee, and one with an overcoat, all having chains round
their necks and tolerably large purses. The building is assigned to
the reign of Henry VI., 1422 to 1460, when minstrelsy had greatly
declined, and the group cannot therefore be considered as representing
minstrels in the height of their prosperity. They are probably
only instrumental performers (with the exception, perhaps, of the lute
player) ; but as one holds a pipe and tabor, used only for rustic dances,
another a crowd or treble viol, a third what appears to be a bass flute,
and a fourth either a treble flute or perhaps that kind of hautboy called
a wayght, or wait, and as there is no harper among them, I do not suppose
any to have been of that class called minstrels of honour, who rode on
horseback, with their servants to attend them, and who could enter freely
into a king's palace. This distinction among minstrels is frequently
mentioned in the old romances ; as, for instance, in the romance of
Launfel, where we are told, " They had menstralles of moche honours,"
and also that they had " Fydelers, sytolyrs (citolers), and trompoteres."
The latest account of the recognized minstrel's dress is contained in
Laneham's letter from Kenilworth (1575), where the "Squire minstrel,
of Middlesex, who travelled the country this summer season, unto
worshipful men's houses," is described as a harper with a long gown of
Kendal green, gathered at the neck with a narrow gorget, and fastened
before with a white clasp ; his gown having long sleeves down to mid-
leg, but slit from the shoulders to the hand, and lined with white. His
harp was to be " in good grace dependent before him," and his " wrest,"
or tuning-key, " tied to a green lace, and hanging by." He wore a red
Cadiz girdle, and the corner of his handkerchief, edged with blue lace,
C 2
2O
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
hung from his bosom. Under the gorget of his gown hung a chain,
"resplendent upon his breast, of the ancient arms of Islington." [This
account, though written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, describes the
costume of a much earlier one, apparently that of Edward IV., and
would seem to point to the conclusion that the minstrel's dress, like
most of the official dresses in this country and abroad, after following
contemporary fashion for many years, at last for some reason or other
ceased to move with the times, and remained afterwards practically
unaltered. — ED.]
In the poetry of this period we begin now to find many references to
the harpers and minstrels. In the Life of Alexander, by Adam Davy,
or Davie, of Stratford-le-Bow, who flourished about 1312, we have
several passages like this : —
" Mery it is in halle to here the harpe,
The mynstrall synge, the jogelour carpe " (recite).
And again : — " Mery is the twynkelyng of the harpour."
In Piers Plowman, the author's subject — a satire on the vices of the
age, but particularly on the corruptions of the clergy and the absurdities
of superstition — does not lead him to say much of music, but he speaks
of ignorance of the art as a just subject of reproach.
" They kennen [know] no more mynstralcy, ne musik, men to gladde,
Than Mundy the muller [miller], of multa fecit Deus /"
He says, however, of himself, in allusion to the minstrels : —
" Ich can nat tabre, ne trompe, ne telle faire gestes,
Ne fithelyn, at festes, ne harpen :
Japen ne jagelyn, ne gentilliche pipe ;
Nother sailen [leap or dance], ne sautrien, ne singe with the giterne."
He also describes his Friar as much better acquainted with the
" Rimes of Robinhode and of Randal, erle of Chester" than with his
Paternoster.
In the "House of Fame" (Urry's Edit, line 127 to 136) Chaucer
says : — •
" That madin loude Minstralsies That bin at feastes with the brede [bread]:
In Cornmuse [bagpipe] and eke in And many a Floite and litlyng Home
Shalmies? And Pipes made of grene corne.
And in many an othir pipe, As have these little Herdegroomes
That craftely began to pipe That kepin Beastes [keep oxen] in the
Bothe in Douced and eke in Rede, broomes.
1 A very early drawing of the shalm, or
shawm, is in one of the illustrations to a copy
of Froissart, in the Brit. Mus. — Royal MSS.
1 8, E. Another in Commenius' Visible
World, translated by Hoole, 1650, from which
it is copied into Cavendish's Life cf Wolsey,
edited by Singer, vol. i. p. 114, Ed. 1825.
The modern clarionet is an improvement upon
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 21
The following passages relate to the harp, and to the manner of
playing upon it with the nails, as the Spaniards do now with the guitar
The first is from the "House of Fame " (Urry, line 105 to 112) : —
. . . . "Stoden .... the castell all Both of wepyng and of game,
aboutin And all that 'longeth unto fame ;
Of all manir of Minstralis There herde I playin on an Harpe
And gestours that tellen tales That ysounid bothe well and sharp e?
and from " Troylus," lib. ii., 1030 : —
" For though that the best harper upon live
Would on the beste sounid jolly harpe
That evir was, with all his fingers five
Touch aie o string, or aie o warble harpe,
Were his nailes poincted nevir so sharpe
It shoulde makin every wight to[o] dull
To heare [h]is Glee, and of his strokes ful."
Chaucer, throughout his works, never loses an opportunity of describing
or alluding to the general use of music, and of bestowing it as an
accomplishment upon the pilgrims, heroes, and heroines of his several
tales or poems, whenever propriety admits. We may learn as much
from Chaucer of the music of his day, and of the estimation in which
the art was then held in England, as if a treatise had been written on
the subject.
Firstly, from the " Canterbury Tales," in his description of the
Squire (line 91 to 96), he says : —
" Syngynge he was, orflowtynge [fluting] al the day ;
He was as fresh as is the moneth of May :
Short was his goune, with sleeves long and wyde ;
Well cowde he sitte on hors, and faire ryde.
He cowde songes wel make and endite^
Juste (fence) and eke daunce, and wel p[o]urtray and write.''
the shawm, which was played with a quill like It mountithe not to hye, but kepithe rule
the wayte, or hautboy, but being a bass instru- and space.
meat, with about the compass of an octave, Yetjj//~zY be blowne withe to vehement a wynde,
had probably more the tone of a bassoon. It It makithe it to mysgoverne out of his kynde."
wa ; used on occasions of state. "VflnaA. stately This is one of the "proverbis" that were
music have you? You have shawms? Ralph written, about the time of Henry VII., on the
plays a stately part, and he must needs have walls of a garret in the New Lodge in the
shawms."— Knight of the Burning Pestle. park at Leckingfield, near Beverley, Yorkshire.
Dr;iy ton speaks of it as shrill-toned: "E'en There were many others relating to music
from the shrillest shawm, unto the cornamute." and musical instruments (harp, lute, recorder,
— Polyolbion, vol. iv. p. 376. I conceive the claricorde, clarysymballis, virgynalls, clarion,
shrillness to have arisen from over-blowing, organ singing, and musical notation), and the
or else the following quotation will appear inscribing them on the walls adds another to
con tradictory : — the numberless proofs of the estimation in which
"A Shawme maketh a swete sounde, for he the art was held. A manuscript copy of them
tunythe the basse, is preserved in Bib. Reg. 18, D. n, Brit. Mus.
22 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
Of the Nun, a prioress (line 122 to 126), he says : —
" Ful iv el sche sang the servise devyne,
Entuned in hire nose ful seemyly.
The Monk, a jolly fellow, and great sportsman, seems to have had a
passion for no music but that of hounds, and the bells on his horse's
bridle (line 169 to 171) : —
" And whan he rood [rode], men might his bridel heere
Gyngle in a whistlyng wynd so cleere,
And eke as lowde as doth the chapel belle."
Of his Mendicant Friar, whose study was only to please (lines 235 to
270), he says : —
" And certayn he hadde a mery note ;
Wei couthe he synge and playe on a rote [hurdy-gurdy]. . . .
Somewhat he lipsede [lisped] for wantounesse,
To make his Englissch swete upon his tunge ;
And in his harpy n?, whan that he had sunge,
His eyghen twynkeled in his hed aright,
As don the sterres in the frosty night."
Of the Miller (line 564 to 568), he says : —
" Wei cowde he stele corn, and tollen thries [take toll thrice] ;
And yet he had a thombe of gold,1 pardtS,
A whight cote and blewe hood wered he ;
•A baggepipe cowde he blowe and sowne [sound],
And therewithal he brought us out of towne." 2
Of the Pardoner (line 674 to 676) : —
u Ful lowde he sang, ' Come hider, love, to me,'
This Sompnour bar[e] to him a stif burdoun?
Was never trompe of half so gret a soun."
Of the poor scholar, Nicholas (line 3213 to 3219) . —
" And al above ther lay a gay sawtrye [psaltry],
On which he made, a-nightes, melodye
1 Tyrwhitt says there is an old proverb— that he or his felow begyn than a Songe, or
" Every honest miller has a thumb of gold." else take out of his bosome a Baggepype for to
Perhaps it means that nevertheless he was as drive away with soche myrthe the hurte of his
honest as his brethren. There are many early felow."
songs on thievish millers and bakers. 3 This Sompnour (Sumner or Summoner to
2 A curious reason for the use of the bagpipe the Ecclesiastical Courts, now called Apparitor)
in pilgrimages will be found in State Trials — supported him by singing the burden, or bass,
Trial of William Thorpe. Henry IV., an. 8, to his song in a deep loud voice. Bourdon is
shortly after Chaucer's death : " I say to thee the French for Drone; and Foot, Under-song,
that it is right well done, that Filgremys have and Burden mean the same thing, although
with them both Syngers, and also Pipers, that Burden was afterwards used in the sense of
whan one of them, that goeth barfote, any line often recurring in a song, as will be
striketh his too upon a stone, and hurteth hym seen hereafter.
sore, and maketh hym to blede ; it is well done
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 23
So swetely, that al the chambur rang : .
And Angehis ad Virginem he sang.
And after that he sang The KyngJs Note;
Ful often blessed was his mery throte."
Of the Carpenter's Wife (lines 3257, 58) :—
" But of her song, it was as lowde and yerne [brisk]
As eny swalwe [swallow] chiteryng on a berne " (barn).
Of the Parish Clerk, Absolon (lines 3328 to 3335) :—
" A mery child he was, so God me save,
Wei wuthe he lete blood, and clippe and shave,
And make a chartre of lond and acquitaunce.
In twenty manners he coude skip and daunce,
After the schole of Oxenforde tho,
And with his legges cas'en to and fro ;
And //fcy<?# songes on a small Rubible 1 [Rebec]
Ther-to he sang som tyme a lowde quynyble; *
And as wel coude he pleye on a git erne :
In al the toun nas [nor was] brewhous ne taverne
That he ne visited with his solas " (solace).
He serenades the Carpenter's Wife, and we have part of his song
(lines 3352 to 3364) :—
" The moone at night ful cleer and brighte schoon,
And Absolon his giterne hath i-take,
For paramours he seyde he wolde awake
He syngeth in hys voys gentil and smal —
' Now, deere lady, if thi wille be,
I pray you that ye wol rewe [have compassion] on me.'
Full wel acordyng to his gyternyng,
This carpenter awook, and herde him syng."
Of the Apprentice in the Cook's Tale, who plays both on the ribible
and gitterne : —
' At every brideale wold he synge and hoppe ;
. He loved bet the taverne than the schoppe.
For whan ther eny rydyng was in Cheepe,
Out of the schoppe thider wolde he lepe,
And tyl he hadde al that sight i-seyn
And daunced wel, he nold not come ageyn ;
And gadned him a meyne of his sort,
To hoppe and synge, and make such disporte
His maister schal it in his schoppe abye,
Al have he no part of the mynstralcye,
For thefte and ryot be convertible,
Al can they play on giterne and rubible.
1 Ribible was a small fiddle with two strings plain-song, and to sing a " quatrible " to begin
a fifth apart (See~De Coussemaker's Scriptores; and end on the twelfth above the plain-song,
p. 152.) The latter term is used by Cornish in his
2 To sing a " quinible " means to sing be- "Treatise between Trowthe and Enformacion,"
ginning and ending on the fifteenth above a 1528.
24 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
In the fourth year of king Richard II. (1381), John of Gaunt erected
at Tutbury, in Staffordshire, a Court of Minstrels similar to that annually
kept at Chester ; and which, like a court-leet, or court-baron, had a legal
jurisdiction, with full power to receive suit and service from the men of
this profession within five neighbouring counties, to determine their con-
troversies and enact laws ; also to apprehend and arrest such of them as
should refuse to appear at the said court, annually held on the i6th of
August. For this they had a charter, by which they were empowered to
appoint a King of the Minstrels, with-four officers to preside over them.
They were every year elected with great ceremony ; the whole form of
which, as observed in 1680, is described by Dr. Plot in his History of
Staffordshire. That the barbarous diversion of bull-running was no
part of the original institution is fully proved by Rev. Dr. Pegge, in
Arckaologui) vol. ii. No. xiii. p. 86.
At the coronation of Henry V., which took place in Westminster
Hall (1413), we are told by Thomas de Elmham, that "the number of
harpers was exceedingly great; and that the sweet strings of their harps
soothed the souls of the guests by their soft melody." He also speaks
of the dulcet sounds of the united music of other instruments, in which
no discord interrupted the harmony, as " inviting the royal banqueters
to the full enjoyment of the festival" (Vit. et Gest., Henr. V., c. 12,
p. 23). When Henry was preparing for his great voyage to France in
1415, an express order was given for his minstrels to attend him
(Rymer, ix., p. 255.) Monstrelet speaks of the English camp resounding
with the national music the day preceding the battle of Agincourt,
but this must have been before the king "gave the order for silence,
which was afterwards strictly observed."
When he entered the City of London in triumph after the battle, the
gates and streets were hung with tapestry representing the histories of
ancient heroes ; and boys with pleasing voices were placed in artificial
turrets, singing verses in his praise. But Henry ordered this part of
the pageantry to cease, and commanded that for the future no "ditties
should be made and sung by Minstrels1 or others," in praise of the
victory, as his; "for that he would whollie have the praise and thankes
altogether given to God."
1 Hollinshed, quoting from Thomas de Elm- quoscunque cantari penitus prohibebat." It
ham, whose words are, " Quod cantus de suo will be observed that Hollinshed translates
tiiumpho fieri, seu per Citharistas vel alios CithaHstas (literally harpers), minstrels.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 25
Nevertheless, among many others, a minstrel-piece soon appeared on
tine.Seyge of Harflett (Harfleur) and the Battayle of Agynkourte, of
which Warton has printed some portions.
[But the most famous celebration of that victory is the song beginning
D?o gratz'as1 which was printed in the last century by Dr. Percy,
Dr. Burney, and J. Stafford Smith, from a MS. at that time preserved
in the Pepysian Collection in the library of Magdalen College,
Cambridge. That MS., however (as has been shown by Mr. Fuller
Maitland in his recent publication of the vellum roll in the library of
Trinity College), was an incomplete transcript from one in the Bodleian
Library in Oxford, in which the melody stands as in the following
setting : —
THE SONG OF AGINCOURT.
Bodl. Lib. MSS. Selden, B. 26; MS. in Trin. Coll. Camb.
[*]
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26
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC
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pro vie - to
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He sette a sege the sothe for to say,
to harflu toune with ryal aray :
that toune he wan and made afray,
that fraunce shal ryvve tyl domesday.
Deo gracias.
Than went owre Kynge with alle his oste,
thorwe fraunce for all the frenshe
boste :
he spared no drede of lest ne moste,
tyl he come to agincouit coste.
Deo gracias.
Than forsoth that knyght comely,
in agin court feld he faught manly :
thorw grace of god most myghty,
he had bothe the felde and the victory.
Deo gracias.
Ther dukys and erlys, lorde and barone,
were take and slayne, and that wel sone :
and summe were ladde into Lundone,
with ioye and merthe and grete renone.
Deo gracias.
Now gracious god he save owre Kynge,
his peple and alle his wel wyllynge :
gef hym gode lyfe and gode endynge,
that we with merth mowe savely synge,
Deo gracias
The original descant is here shown below exactly as it stands in the
MS., except that bars have been added, the clefs modernized, the notes
reduced to half their original length, and the abbreviated words printed
in full.
XL — —
i ,
Eg
E
— 1 L
1 , \ 1_
1— — — — j-
3 ^
A n
~ ^-
L^ ^ . j '
& . J, J. ^ J. '
1 1—
y V t^j
xf >T — — f-^
C^ C*^
E? f r
g i* ^ r i*
_
Lulu) 1
p=
^ F1
4- 1 1^ h — p-
rJ cJ
^ Do
• o gra
- ci - as
an - gli
a red -
de pro vie
to
(if)
§^.^
i 1 — ! — 1 — r
J J " ^^
1
k^r^-,^4- [ 1
U^
28
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
3^
^=d=5=3E3j
Owre kynge went forth to nor - man - dy, with grace and
(it)
fc\\ i3 i
l_
J — J CJ
Saz ±7 J *
J * — '
•
)
-X--X— A \ I- -1 1
g
IMh ^ rJ — 2— H— -j
— 1 ^~
-
. , r. ._. ._£? .,
myght of chy - val - ry : ther god for hym wrought
1 ' ' J 1 — r
1 — — \~
1 1
— i — i — ! — r
-, 1-
J J J ~
-H F
-$-$— 1 1
1 h~
~^~
|(M) rJ Q 1
1 — •• 1 —
—^ C-L-
<S> r^ 1-
mer - vel - ous - ly, wher - fore eng - londe
may
(it)
1
_
g* j i PI
^fa - I ! " ' ^
calle and cry De
o gra
CHORUS.
§*— JJ
1 ^ ^
— i 1
i ^j c^ ,
~d -^ — w — *— *-
^^J)
>K >r _ _ — i-
7^> — j
i m r P J
M — n
^=^
q — i — ! — I
I — '
— ^ 7^
-^ ' — i-
De - o gra - ci - as an
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
m
PS
red - de
pro
vic - to
Whether in this song of Agincourt we have another example of a
popular melody embellished and added to by a scholastic composer, it is
impossible to say, though it will hardly escape remark that the portion
of the composition set to English words forms by itself a tune in four
sections, with a regular ending upon the final of the mode (Mode i) in
which it is written. Be that, however, as it may, its popular subject and
the stirring character of the tune seem to suggest a popular use, and
justify its appearance in the present work. — ED.]
Although Henry had forbidden the minstrels to celebrate his victory,
the order evidently did not proceed from any disregard for the professors
of music or of song, for at the Feast of Pentecost, which he celebrated
in 1416, having the Emperor and the Duke of Holland as his guests, he
ordered rich gowns for sixteen of his minstrels. And having before his
death orally granted an annuity of a hundred shillings to each of his
minstrels, the grant was confirmed in the first year of his sen, Henry VI.
(A.D. 1423), and payment ordered out of the Exchequer.
In that age, as in more enlightened times, the people loved better to
be amused than instructed, and the minstrels were often more amply
paid than the clergy. In the year 1430, during the reign of Henry VI.,
at the annual feast of the fraternity of the Holie Crosse, at Abingdon,
twelve priests each received four pence for singing a dirge, while the
same number of minstrels were rewarded with two shillings and four
pence each, besides diet and horse-meat. In the year 1441 eight
priests were hired from Coventry, to assist in celebrating a yearly obit
in the church of the neighbouring priory of Maxtoke ; as were six
minstrels (Mimi) belonging to the family of Lord Clinton, who lived in
the adjoining castle of Maxtoke, to sing, harp, and play in the hall of the
monastery during the extraordinary refection allowed to the monks on
that anniversary. Two shillings were given to the priests, and four to
These two notes are A B in the original.
30 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
the minstrels ; and the latter are said to have supped in camera picta, or
the painted chamber of the convent, with the sub-prior, on which occasion
the chamberlain furnished eight massive tapers of wax (Warton, vol. ii.
p. 309). However, on this occasion, the priests seem to have been better
paid than usual, for in the same year (1441) the prior gave no more than
sixpence to a preaching friar. 1
To the reign of Henry VI. belongs, in all probability, the following
tune : —
NOWELL, NOWELL.
[*]
Bodleian Library, MSS. Eng. Poet, e.i.2
Now -ell now -ell now - ell . . . now - ell, this is the sa-lu - ta - cy -on
£ft
-I 1-
z)-*-?-
1 I
i
r-^feg3±=£
{Moderate^
A
^^J
&%=
73-
of theangell ga - bry -ell. Tyd-yngs treu ther be cum neu sent frome the
(#) /TS
1 As late as in the early part of the reign of
Elizabeth we find an entry in the books of
the Stationers' Company (1560) of a similar
character: " Item, payd to the preacher, 6s. 2d.
Item, payd to the minstrell, I2s."; so that even
in the decline of minstrelsy the scale of re-
muneration was relatively the same.
2 The songs in this MS. have been pub-
lished by the Percy Society (Songs and Carols,
73), edited by Mr. T. Wright. A proportion
of its contents consists of carols and hymns.
Another class, in which the MS. is, for its date,
peculiarly rich, consists of drinking songs ; and
it also contains a number of satirical songs
upon women. The larger number of the
songs, including some of the most interesting
and curious, appear to be unique, and the
others are in general much better and more
complete copies than those previously known
(viz. in MS. Sloane, No. 2593, Brit. Mus.).
[There is only one other tune in this MS. : a
hymn for S. John's Day. — ED.].
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
try - ny - te, Be ga - bry - ell to na - zar - eth ce - ty of ga - li - le.
(if) ^
i ii
J i i I
r-
• • rr r i
J.-J^j i
EiEU^-Jbsr
HP*
I
A clen may - dyn and pure vir - gyn thorow her hu my - !y - te,
4
T
j.
-. . j i -.
»):. „
[It is much to be regretted that the notes given in the MS. could
not here be made to exhibit a triple measure throughout. Alteration,
however, was out of the question. I was not at liberty to assume that
such considerable deviations from the measure of the commencement,
occurring in the same portion of each stanza, were due to error on the
part of the scribe. The original is, of course, without bars ; and signs of
time and prolation are not to be looked for at this early date.— ED.]
The song, " Bryng us home good ale, sir," in Harl. MSS. 541, which
has been printed by Ritson in his Ancient Songs, is also given in the
Bodleian MS., to be sung to the same tune. It begins :—
" Bryng us in good ale and bryng us in good ale,
for [our] blyssid lady sak bryng us in good ale.
Bryng us in no befe for ther is many bonys,
but bryng us in good ale for that goth downe at onys,
and bryng us in good ale."
32 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
In the following reign considerable progress was made in the organi-
zation of the popular musicians. In 1469, on a complaint that persons had
collected money in different parts of the kingdom by assuming the title
and livery of the king's minstrels, Edward IV. granted to Walter Halliday,
Marshal, and to seven others whom he names, a charter of incorporation.
They were to be governed by the marshal, appointed for life, and two
wardens to be chosen annually, who were authorised to admit members,
to examine the pretensions of all who exercised the minstrel
profession, and to regulate, govern, and punish them (those of Chester
excepted) throughout the realm. " This," says Percy, " seems to have
some resemblance to the Earl Marshal's court among the heralds, and
is another proof of the great affinity and resemblance which the minstrels
bore to the College of Arms." Walter Halliday, above mentioned, had
been retained in the service of the two preceding monarchs, and Edward
had granted him an annuity of ten marks for life in 1464. The King
gave to several others also annuities to the same amount (6 Parl.
Rolls, p. 89) ; and, besides their regular pay, with clothing, and
lodging for themselves and their horses, they had two servants to
carry their instruments, four gallons of ale per night, wax candles, and
other indulgences. The charter is printed in Rymer, xi. 642, by Sir J.
Hawkins, vol. iv. p. 366, and Burney, vol. ii. p. 429. All the minstrels
have English names.
Music seems to have formed an important part of Court ceremonial
in this reign. When the queen went to Westminster Abbey to be
churched (1466), she was preceded by troops of choristers, chanting
hymns, and attended by bands of musicians and trumpeters, and forty-
two royal singers. After the banquet and state ball, a state concert
was given, at which the Bohemian ambassadors were present, and in
their opinion as well as that of Tetzel, the German who accompanied
them, no better singers could be found in the whole world1 than
those of the English king. These ambassadors travelled through France,
Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and parts of Germany, as well as
1 Tetzel says, " Nach clem Tantzdo muosten kostlichst Korgesang, das alls gesatzt was, das
des Kunigs Cantores kumen und muosten lieblich zu horen was. " — Ib. p. 158.
singen .... ich mein das, in der Welt, nit Leo von Rozmital, brother of the Queen of
besser Cantores sein." — Des bohmischen Bohemia, says, " Musicos nullo uspiam in loco
Herrn Leo's von Rozmital Ritter, — Hof und jucundiores et suaviores audivimus, quam ibi :
Pilger—Reise, 1465-1467, <SrV.,8vo, Stuttgart, eorum chorus sexaginta, circiter cantoribus
1844, p. 157. constat."— Ib. p. 42.
Again Tetzel says, " Do horten wir das aller
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
33
England, and had, therefore, the widest field for comparison with the
singers of other countries.
At this time every great family had its establishment of musicians,
and among them the harper held a prominent position. Some who were
less wealthy retained a harper only, as did many bishops and abbots.
In Sir John Howard's expenses (1464) there is an entry of a payment
as a new year's gift to Lady Howard's grandmother's harper, "that
dwellyth in Chestre." When he became Lord Howard he retained in
his service Nicholas Stapylton, William Lyndsey, and " little Richard,"
as singers, besides " Thomas, the harperd " (whom he provided with a
(ilyard," or grey "gown"), and children of the chapel, who were
successively four, five, and six in number at different dates. Mr. Payne
Collier, who edited his Household Book from 1481 to 1485 for the
Roxburghe Club, remarks on " the great varieties of entries in connection
with music and musical performers," as forming " a prominent feature "
of the book. " Not only were the musicians attached to noblemen or to
private individuals liberally rewarded, but also those who were attached
to particular towns, and who seem to have been generally required to
perform before Lord Howard on his various journeys."
Little occurs about music and ballads during the short reigns of
Edward V. and Richard III.
Richard was very liberal to his musicians, giving annuities to some
and gratuities to others. (See Harl. MS., No. 433.) But his chief
anxiety seems to have been to increase the already splendid choral
establishment of the Chapel Royal. For that purpose he empowered
John Melynek, one of the gentlemen of the chapel, " to take and seize
for the king" not only children, but also "all such singing men expert in
the science of music, as he could find and think able to do the king's
service, within all places of the realm, as well cathedral churches, colleges,
chapels, houses of religion, and all other franchised or exempt places, or
elsewhere" (Harl. MS., 433, p. 189).
In the privy purse expenses of Henry VII., from the seventh to the
twentieth year of his reign, there are many payments relating to music
from which the following are selected : —
1492. Feb. 4th, To the childe that playeth on the records [recorder] £i o o
April 6th, To Gwyllim for flotes [flutes] with a case - - 3 10 o
May 8th, For making a case for the kinge's suerde, and a
case for James Hide's harp - - I o 8
July 8th, To the maydens of Lambeth for a May - - o 10 o
August ist, At Canterbury, To the children, for singing in the
gardyn - 034
D
34 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
1493. Jan. ist, To the Queresters [choristers] at Paule's and
St. Steven - £o 13 4
Jan. 6th, To Newark [William Newark, the composer] for
making a song - - I o o
1494. Jan. 2nd, For playing of the Mourice [Morris] Daunce -200
Nov. 29th, To Burton, for making a Masse - - I o o
„ To my Lorde Prince's Luter, in rewarde - - i o o
1495. Aug. 2nd, To the women that songe before the king and the
quene, in rewarde -068
Nov. 2nd, To a woman that singeth with a fidell - -020
Nov. 27th, To Hampton of Wourcestre, for making of
Balades, in rewarde - I o o
1496. Aug. 1 7th, To the quene's fideler, in rewarde - - I 6 8
1499. June 6th, To the May-game at Greenwich - -040
1501. Sept. 3oth, To theym that daunced the mer' [morris] daunce - i 6 8
Dec. 4th, To the Princesse stryng mynstrels at Westminster 200
1502. Feb. 4th, To one Lewes, for a morris daunce - i 13 4
Dec. 25th, To W. Cornysshe [of the chapel] for setting a carol • 13 4
1504. March 6th, To John Sudborough, for a songe - - i o o
There is also a great variety of payments to the musicians of different
towns, as the " Waytes " of Dover, Canterbury, Dartford, Coventry, and
Northampton ; the minstrels of Sandwich, the shawms of Maidstone ;
to bagpipers, the king's piper (repeatedly), the piper at Huntingdon, &c. ;
to harpers, some of whom were Welsh. And there are also several
entries " To a Walsheman for a ryme " ; liberal presents to the poets, of
his mother (the Countess of Richmond), of the prince, and of the king ;
to " the rymer of Scotland," who was in all probability the Scotch poet,
William Dunbar, who celebrated the nuptials of James IV. and the
princess Margaret in his " Thistle and the Rose," and to an Italian poet.
All these may be seen in Excerpta Historica (8vo, 1833).
[Hitherto it will have been remarked that although references of a
general character to the popular musical diversions have abounded, few
particulars have been found, and still fewer examples. But the reign of
Henry VIII. opens up to us several sources rich in compositions of a
secular nature, which, if not popular in the sense defined at the
beginning of this work, were in all probability intended for a large section
of the public, including all those who were able to sing or play in
anything like a regular manner. They are for the most part the work of
skilled composers, with sufficient learning to enable them to write in
several at least of the ecclesiastical scales. Some of them are found in a
single voice part only, while others occur as the subject of descant in
parts ; most are anonymous, but there are a few which bear the names
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
35
of composers. .As most of the latter sort, however, are in parts, we cannot
decide whether the subject was made for the composition, or only
adopted. A few examples follow. — ED.].
AH! THE SIGHS.
B.M. MSS. Reg. Appendix 58 ; Addl. MSS. 31,922.
[*]
A the syghes that come fro my herte, they greve me pass - yng
I
flare - well my joye fore ev - er - more.
TTi ^
— e-^--.
<^; ri^ZZ3
,4 4 ? ' J J ,J-
-t^-n
S32 '£3 '
/^^> <^J ^
tfS * ! * * \l tt
— *i II
H i -^ ^ \ "i \ \ \ \ |- ,'
/*o ^2 • -/^ ^-J y^J /*^ '/^ uJ^2u
^-T US! • SL! -c=^- ^j - • n"P5r
3za H
L-J
II
v^_U S
^—f ^— j
1 — I
i -
Oft to me wyth hur goodly face,
she was wont to cast an eye :
and now absence to me in place,
alas for woo I dye I dye.
I was wont hur to be holde,
and takyn in armys twayne :
and now wyth syghes many folde,
fare well my joye and welcome payne.
A my thinke that l se hur yett>
ag woMe tQ gode that I myght .
there myght no joyes compare wyth hyt
unto my hart to make hyt lyght.
D 2
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
[The above version of the tune is taken from the Appendix to the
King's MSS., where it appears without accompaniment of any kind. A
slightly different contemporary version is to be found in Addl. MSS.
31,922, where it is set in three parts by W. Cornysshe, junr. His work
is (in modern clefs, &c.) as follows : —
[Treble.]
~~y
&-
~ ~ ~
!F^=^
[Tune. Co
-" e? — •'«— f^ ^~ crj|
untcr Tenor] (1?)
^
SEEE
pass- yng
^ A the
syghs yt
cu
r
fro
my
p-
1
3
E3
iart,
h^
They
u —
greve
me
pass- yng
~ [
..r
—
-1-
[
E
pass- yng
a
Sens ye must neds fro me de
part,
(#)
^
Iff.
flare - well my joy for ev - er
I I I
for ev - er
,
^-
ED.]
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
37
WESTERN WIND.
I.
B.M., MSS. Reg. Appendix 58 ; Musica Antiqua, from a MS. in the possession of
J. Stafford Smith.
[*]
West - ron wynde when wyll . . . thow . . . blow : the smalle rain
(1)
r#T7^ n
M J J
-|-
(G) v \> C3 • £2 —
\Moderate^\ ,
go * <^
|
•^
Z*s
^^ ^*f*> C*^ • CJ
"i
r-l 1
^ — = = 1
downe can . . . rayne. \Qh\ \i my love were in my
armys : \pr\ I in my bed a - gayne
[This tune has been printed, from the British Museum MS., in
Ritson's Ancient Songs. No more words are given either in the original
or by Stafford Smith, and no other copies are known.
Another tune with the same name will be found in B.M. Addl. MSS.
17,802-5, where it appears as the subject of three Masses, by Taverner,
Tye, and Shephard. It may have been originally set to the same words
as the above, but in that case the last two lines must have been repeated.
It is as follows : —
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
II.
[*]
*M~.±
1 — h
0 ,rJ ^)
,
*^
\
£2.. ... .
^
^rcn
zqpp:
*==
^=^=
F
- J4.
(It)
\> _-g
«
[*]
ED.]
CULL TO ME THE RUSHES GREEN.
B.M., MSS. Reg. Appendix 58.
Colle to me the rys - shes grene . . Colle to me \the
3
1 1~
— I-
I I
^ — (f—! — -H-
1 - : .
IS
c.
9
^>
c
—
^
1
.C.
E
—
— i^m
^ ^^
3
ru
sh
"1 1~~
=
-f
=3-
es
8
ree
«]
-
a.
/T\
1
L^ li_^ ^J-
Colle to me the
1 1 1 \
^ * hs>-4
rys - shes
j ,
?-
J-^1-
^-
i
^-
,j
-J-
!
S
-
rr^
-<s>-
[— g
\— ^ l-g
<=^~
\ j —
M=-
l?g^?
— 1 —
1— = 1-^
grene
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 39
Colle to me {the rush - es green~\ a.
For my pastyme upon a day,
I walkyde alone ryght secretly :
in a mornyng of lusty May,
me to rejoyce I did aplye.
Colle to me, &c.
Wher I saw one in gret dystresse,
complayning him thus pytuously :
alas, he sayde for my mastres
I well perseyve that I shall dye.
Colle to me, &c.
Wythout that thus she of hur grace,
to pety she wyll somewhat revert :
I have most cause to say alas,
for hyt ys she that hath my hart.
Colle to me, &c.
Soo to contynew whyle my lyff endur,
though I fore hur sholde suffre dethe :
she hath my hart wythowt recure,
and ever shall duryng my brethe.
Colle to me, &c.
[This tune also has been printed in Ritson's Ancient Songs; and that
author quotes from Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland [Paris, 1549]
the statement that " Cou thou me the raschis grene " was one of the
popular songs at the time that book was written. — ED.]
BLOW THY HORN, HUNTER.
B.M., Addl. MSS. 31,922 ; MSS. Reg. Appendix 58.
[*]
Blow thy home
i i
hun - ter, & blow thy home on hye : ther
| | 1 j I | !
aEjiEza — =| — ~^~
r^j e^s
-^—^ eJ
*$\) ' *^ ^ ^
™^ ^~-^ ^^>,
CL^ C-^ C-*'
[Fast.]J ^| _^_— ^_ _J_ J J_ J_ J --^- -J-
f(?)* 1
-. 1±: —
tx ( \j — "^3 f5 ~E3
-ra = 1
is a do in yon-der wode, in faith she woll not dy : no*.v
J i i i i
-j.j..j j.
— i — i —
# : J d d
i r r r
-T — f r • r
-J- ' i
L^ r C-ti £J ^_ ^=j=?
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
E2C2 * ^
j m « ' j r^
i *
/-} 1
vv.y .*»— * ***-\ ^*-\
.***—. *~~*<
<-^ ; — ;
3
r
i
r r r f i i r
j j j j j j j J- -^ -&
£> ^> ra <T3 —
— _ — _ —
_t±: — - f £2 3-3
rer- H
Sore this dere strykyn is,
and yet she bled no whytt :
she lay so fayre I cowde not mys,
lord I was glad of it.
[Now blow, &c.]
As I stod under a bank,
the dere shoffe on the mede :
I stroke her so that downe she sanke,
but yet she was not dede.
[Now blow, &c.]
Ther she gothe se ye nott,
how she gothe over the playne :
and if ye lust to have a shott,
I warrant her barrayne.
[Now blow, &c.J
[The words are from Additional MSS. 31,922, where the song is
arranged for three voices by Wm. Cornysshe, junr.,1 as follows : —
[TREBLE.]
xT / *
i i
i i
<^> _
m * '
—
— J . J <^J
^— -^
'•^ ~ ^
M
• — ' ^ Z3
dj ^j
2 i
TUNE
[TENOR."
0 0
-£2- -^ p^ —
1^—
— ^ — — /r3 — h
5)(?b ^
1 1 '
J 1 [_
|
1 1_
J 3
[BASS.]
Blow thy home
hun - ter, &c.
A^\« t
| |
r^
I
CJ« m
5
^x Sz
c^J ^J (^i^
r-^t rJ «^J
C2
o cJ
^ g^ . J gJ ^
fj j fj \
^* cJ
£*r -s — >
on ' - '
y y ~ — ^-^
1 1 1 1-
-r^—
|
ffSffh r^ F ^ P
-P2 fS> ^ ?^-
^ ""* ^ —
EC S32
3 tJ
r^» 1 1 — 1 ' —
1
1 1 1 1 ^- j — i
(^ P ^ 1
— I — — ! ^ — i — r —
^ta^ c^ * ^ *r** ^—L
^ c^ p
Pn
— r;
1
1 —
\ — i — i
u
Jpf
— /^
1^3 <^>
^
1 W-j
B
II
JJ
^ — r
— 1
I — n
i i i
,
-
1
^^ —
L_
. ^
^=*=\
—
K — m.
1 r— — U
—En.]
This MS. contains in all eleven songs by Cornysshe. — ED.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 4'I
Henry VIII. was not only a great patron of music, but also a
composer ; and, according to Lord Herbert of Cherbury, who wrote his
life, made two complete services, which were often sung in his chapel.
Hollinshed, in speaking of the removal of the court to Windsor,
when Henry was beginning his progress, tells us that he "exercised
himselfe dailie in shooting, singing, dansing, wressling, casting of the
barre, plaieing at the recorders, flute, virginals, in setting of songs, and
making of ballades." All accounts agree in describing him as an amiable
and accomplished prince in the early part of his reign ; and the character
given of him to the Doge of Venice, by his three ambassadors at the
English court, could scarcely be expressed in more favourable terms.
In their joint despatch of May 3rd, 1515, they say : " He is so gifted and
adorned with mental accomplishments of every sort, that we believe him
to have few equals in the world. He speaks English, French, and Latin ;
understands Italian well ; plays almost on every instrument, and
composes fairly ; is prudent and sage, and free from every vice."
In the letter of Sagudino (Secretary to the Embassy), written to
Alvise Foscari, at this same 'date, he says : " He is courageous, an
excellent musician, plays the virginals well, is learned for his age and
station, and has many other endowments and good parts." On the
ist of May, 1515, after the celebration of May day at Greenwich, the
ambassadors dined at the palace, and after dinner were taken into
certain chambers containing a number of organs, virginals (clavicimbani),
flutes, and other instruments ; and the court having heard from the
ambassadors that Sagudino was possessed of some skill in music, he
was asked to play, which he did for a long while, both on the virginals
and organ, and says that he bore himself bravely, and was listened to
with great attention. The king, he was told, would certainly wish to
hear him, for he himself practised on these instruments day and night.
Pasqualigo, the ambassador-extraordinary, gives a similar account at
the same time. Of Henry he says : " He speaks French, English, and
Latin, and a little Italian, plays well on the lute and virginals, sings from
book at sight, draws the bow with greater strength than any man in
England, and jousts marvellously."1
1 Of the chapel service, Pasqualigo says, choristers, whose voices are really rather divine
"We attended High Mass, which was than human; they did not sing, but rejoiced
chaunted by the Bishop of Durham with a (non cantavano, ma jubilavano) ; and as for
superb and noble descant choir" (Capella di the deep bass voices, I don't think they have
Discanto) ; and Sagudino says, " High Mass their equals in the world." (Vol. i. p. 77).
was chaunted, and it was sung by his Majesty's
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
[Although Henry, in the course of his education, which was intended
to prepare him for the church, might be supposed to have learned only
the ecclesiastical manner of composition, his extant work shows a
preference for song writing ; and it even happens that the only
remaining authentic piece that is written in ecclesiastical form is set to
love passages from the Song of Solomon: — Quam pulchra es et quam
decora, carissima in deliciis. Statura tua assinrilata est palmce^ et ubera
tua botris. . . . Caput tuum ut Carmelus. . . . collum tuum sicut turris
eburnea. . . . Veni, dilecte mi> egrediamur in agrum ; videamus si flores
fructus parturiunt, si floruerunt mala punica. Ibi dabo tibi ubera mea.
This is a motett for three voices, printed by Sir John Hawkins
from a MS. in the handwriting of John Baldwyn (a singing man of
Windsor, ctrc. 1600), which bears the name Henricus Octavus at the
beginning, and " quod Henricus Octavus " at the end of the cantus part.
The rest of his authentic compositions (which, so far as they have
been as yet discovered, are all contained in the same MS. as the song
by Cornysshe just given above) are frankly amorous or jovial. I give
their titles : —
Pastyme with good companye.
Adew madam et ma mastres.
Helas madam eel que je metant.
[j'aime tant.J
Alas what shall I do for love.
O my hart and O my hart.
The time of youth is to be spent.
Alac alac what shall I do.
Grene growith the holy.
Wherto shuld I expresse.
Departure is my chief payne.
It is to me a ryght gret joy.
Withowt discorde and bothe acorde.
Who so that wyll for grace sew.
Lusti yough shuld us ensue.
The MS. contains also five other songs which are probably by the
king, and a few compositions in parts, but without words, to which his
name is affixed, and which are probably intended for sol-faing by
voices ; a common practice, for which music was often provided. Two
of the songs (one of which I have not thought it necessary to arrange)
here follow. — ED.]
PASTIME WITH GOOD COMPANY.
B.M. Addl. MSS. 31,922 ; Addl. MSS. 5,665 ; MSS. Reg. Appendix 58.
[*]
Pas - tyme with good com
pa - nye, I love & shall un -
2
U /It ^ . J
f — • • !3
j j j
— l-
1
^. j
-j-f
H
r i|' 8 - g5
g . • —
£> • ^ <^-/
^
— ?^ — • ?"D —
£j • id
rr
D
~T~
&0j/.] |
<^3 . <*^
r
J-.-1J-
j
1
I
t— g-^ — H^-J
1
1
1
-^-. gj
^w
xb 'K 1 —
i 1 — i
1 h
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
43
- tyll ... I dye : Gruche who lust but none . . . de - nye, so
(ft) (ft) (ft)
i
^
God be pie - syd thus leve . . . wyll I.
(ft) (ft) (ft) /TS
For
IfM
i EZ • Q ."H
^
3
stz
/^> •
52
E^S ^> ^
f^)
J E2
' — ' —
J
^ r
j. j...«uu j
r
C?*^ Ci^
^, H^J
r
ss«
2C2 l —
^^-^
<££
1r^5 —
r^> r^»
— l^? — M"*' S?
H^^-
— 1
my pas - tance, hunt syng & dance, my hart . . is sett : all
^ 0 to
— ^. |
T^ ?^r~
—G^- S*-
^ * ^ gj ^j 1
,. . J
J — &
J
_^2- * -d2-
' ^^ * P2-!
j
T^
.^-1 • ^ ^?~ ^<^
1
_. J
^^D ' (^
^J* 1 ^2
1
BZfe
f^J
X-— f • '
'— ^ • t^
good - ly sport, for my com - fort, who schall me let.
(ft) (ft)
\ \ 1-
S3
!
i
£
bu^
ol ~n
^fl
Youthe must have sum daliance,
off good or yll sum pastance :
Company me thynkes then best,
all thoughts and fansys to dejest :
ffor idillnes,
is chef mastres
of vices all :
Then who can say
but myrth and play
is best of all.
Company with honeste,
is vertu vices to ffle :
Company is good & ill,
but evry man hath hys fre wyll
the best ensew,
the worst eschew,
my mynde schalbe :
Vertu to use,
vice to refuse,
thus schall I use me.
The words and music of this song are also preserved in a manuscript
of the time of Henry VIII., formerly in Ritson's possession, and now in
44
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
the British Museum (Add. MSS. 5665). in which it is entitled " The
King's Ballad." Ritson mentions it in a note to his Historical Essay
on Scottish Song, and Stafford Smith printed it in his Musica Antigua,
as it appears in Ritson's MS., in score for three men's voices. It is the
first of those mentioned in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland (1549) :
" Now I will rehearse some of the sweet songs that I heard among them
(the shepherds) as after follows : in the first Pastance with good Company?
&c. The copy in MSS. Reg. App. 58, is in the lute tablature, and this
may be considered as another proof of its popularity.
Bishop Latimer, in his Second Sermon preached before King
Edward VI., alluded to it twice : " Yet a king may take his pastime in
hawking or hunting, or such like pleasures. But he must use them for
recreation, when he is weary of weighty affairs, that he may return to
them the more lusty ; and this is called Pastime with good Company''
And further on, " So your Grace must learn how to do of Salomon.
Ye must take your petition [to God] ; now study, now pray — they must
be yoked together. And this is called Pastime with good Company?
[The above arrangement contains in substance most of the king's
counterpoint ; but an inner part has been added to fill up the harmony
which is often rather bare. Consecutive fifths also, which were
not considered faults at the date when the king learned music, have
been removed from all the cadences,
As specimens of Henry VIII.'s workmanship were, until the opening
of this MS. to the public, thought to be extremely rare, and scarcely any
have been printed, the song is here given below as it stands in the
original ; modern clefs only being substituted for their ancient equivalents,
and marks of repetition being printed instead of an actual repetition
of the first section.
THE KYNGE H. viij.
[ALTO.]
^ 1
1
1 1 1 1 1 — 1
1 \~
. • ^H — '
— — i — — r
1 —
S--} • ^~-j
f^j • w ej ^
fLJ • fLJ
i. Pas - tyme
[TENOR.] 2. G ruche who
with good
lust but
com - pa -
none de -
nye, I
nye, so
love &
God be
j/ f \ ' i*~~3 f*~~*
^~ ^—- ^
^
1
^-> — . i
rf rf K /I* ^^ • r^ ^
C-^ * C^*'
f^^ * f ^^ *^~*
— ]
• r^ \
M)(£D 'y
i I —
£2 CJ
1
\ \
LBASS.]
1 4 1
C-? . »
-
— — 3-f
£2 — jpp — _ — 1 —
1 1 1
f—
^~~~ * ^j \
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
45
(ft) znd time.
7t — fr~7: — -f-
t{T\ f^J • >— S
1 J 1 1 1
1 H :|| - J
-S?— 1-
VL) r^ ^ 1
£j •— ' 9 J <rJ
pa .11 e? c?
^J
shall un - tyll .... I dye : I. For my pas - tance hunt
pie - syd thus leve . . wyll I.
fc3
S«^ a
— — i -^-
-r^(
__ 1 —
"n~ ~
t^J
^^^=E
XL b
— , • ^J
^ • «
•
Ch '^
^ cJ ^-4
f~*s * r^r^
^ 1
syng &
dance my
1 l
hart ... is
I
sett, all
good - ly
m
xT xT b ^i? "^
— . p-'
-^2 • T r^-.gl
— |
x— , c-?
^j^-^3 '
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(ft) (ft)
t~o
^^^1:
sport for my com- fort, who schall me .... let.
$=^
E
B
^):
WHERETO SHOULD I EXPRESS.
B.M., Addl. MSS. 31,922.
THE KYNGE H. Vlij.
(ft)
—ED.]
(ft)
j^l • ^ ^^
n
^
Wher - to shuld I ex - presse : my
in - ward he - vy
w
46
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
|
\ '" I
C3 * ' — ~~~"^
^-j ,
it j II
V^. / C-*"' ^- *r
f^)
• — ' e^> (.
~J ^\ \ [^ II
*n r\ ,i
' / y i l
|
\ \
i l 1 1
/ /I rj
/-~~~ * P \* \*
& !
II
(S-HLI) *
Pi
22
^ 2ttZ3
|
5 — ' l ra
nes : No myrth can make me fayne, tyl that we mete a - gayne.
^ r ^ — —
I-Q-^-j (^
H H H
S^Z 5 ~^m
\ ,\ r-
.
Do way dere hart not so,
let no thought now dysmaye
thow ye now parte me fro,
we shall mete when we may.
When I remembyr me,
of your most gentyll mynde :
it may in no wyse agre,
that I shuld be unkynde.
The daise delectable,
the violett wan and bio :
ye are not varyable,
I love you & no mo.
I make you fast and sure,
it is to me gret payne :
thus longe to endure,
tyll that we mete agayne.
[*]
BY A BANK AS I LAY.
B.M., MSS. Reg. Appendix 58.
r, , III
1 1 i
y ' i j ^ j
IS j
I i
— m- J-^-J J c^— fi
J
f£B — ^x ^ — * ?"3 ?^3 ^ —
'^5 zzzmp
M
3 r
v — — ^i
t/ i i
\Moderate*\
J- J J j
1 * 1 J J r -
j
fj»y -^ ^ E2
i
^ ,
^^ t? ^ ^ ^ F^ —
— P —
- lone hey
how :
-J
m
f
byr
dys voyce dyd me
re - ioyce
syng - yng
by -
|-pT
t=£]
\ f^J
1 ~-
1 ! —
^
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1
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J. J. J. . J. ^ f
^ -
sL-J J
1 1 1
, 1
1
1 r-
f*3
~1 p
- fore
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
the day. And my thought in
47
hire
ff
f - -
J
J .
rr
lay, she sayd wyn - ter
was past hey
rn
" 1
-**—. — 3
— & 2^ —
d ! 1 d —
-¥
^"J
I. r" -f~
J. J. J- J. JL J
r s
J.
F-
-**-!
Ee
r) r^^
— -1*2 —
— 2
-f — f — F-
— h-
— F—
how : Dan dy ry cum dan dy - ry cum
dy - ry
-a — i — [— -j-
-&-& . J d
^ —
^j» (^^ o^ 'rf^
^^
-J.
r
"f r s
j
p§£g — t —
-2 P-
(=
— & 1 — F2 ~
cum dy - ry cum
ry cum dy - ry cum dan.
^-^ — i — P
— i r-j-
—j —
1 i :
l-^t-l
^ ^3 f^' ^
1 I i
f^^ ^^
fe)!
^. •
^2
t*
- -sl-
P"
1
s
~H — n
?=EEs pi
p1
— i — ^
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= — a
The master of musyke, the lusty nyghtyngale, hey how : ffull meryly & secretly
She syngythe in the thyke : and under hur brest a pricke, to kepe hur fro sleepe.
Hey how. Dan, &c.
Awake there for young men, all ye that lovers be, hey how. Thus monyth of may soo
fresh soo gay,
So fayre be felde on ffen, hath ffloryshe ylke a den : grete joy hyt ys to see.
Hey how. Dan, &c.
This song is mentioned in the Life of Sir Peter Carew, by John
Vowell, alias Hoker, of Exeter (Archcelogia, vol. xxviii.): — " From this
time he continued for the most part in the court, spending his time in
all courtly exercises, to his great praise and commendation, and
48 THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
especially to the good liking of the king (Henry VIII.), who had
a great pleasure in him, as well for his sundry noble qualities, as also
for his singing. For the king himself being much delighted to sing, and
Sir Peter Carew having a pleasant voice, the king would often use him
to sing with him certain songs they call Freemen Songs,1 as namely,
* By the bancke as I lay/ and ' As I walked the wode so wylde,' " &c.
In Laneham's letter from Kenilworth, 1565, "By a bank as I lay" is
included in the " Bunch of ballads and songs, all ancient," which were
then in the possession of Captain Cox, the Mason of Coventry. And in
Wager's interlude, The longer thou livest the more fool thou art, 1 568,
Moros sings the two following lines : —
" By a bank as I lay, I lay,
Musing on things past, heigh ho ! "
[A few words are necessary with regard to the version of the tune
here given. As it stands in the MS. — a single voice part (tenor)2 — it is
a very good example of what was called in the sixteenth century a
broken plainsong ; that is to say, a melody which for descanting
purposes has been distorted from its original shape, sometimes by
alteration in the value of its notes, sometimes by the insertion
of foreign matter, and sometimes by a union of both methods. It is
however generally possible (in the case of a metrical original, almost
always) with a little patience, and the help of certain indications which
are seldom absent, to reconstruct the melody ; and this is what I have
endeavoured to do in the present instance. The composition in the
MS. begins with the first section of the tune, as shewn above ; then there is
a long interpolated passage (probably descant to the other parts, as they
enter one by one, each singing the subject), after which there is very
little interpolation but considerable alteration in the value of notes, and
so to the end. The whole is rather too long for insertion here, but
the reference to the MS. given above will enable the reader, if so inclined,
to examine for himself
l When Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl less pronunciation of the common people
of Essex, went to Rome, in 1510, to obtain turned Three-man's song into Freeman's song,
from Pope Julius II. the renewal of the and the terms were used indifferently,
"greater and lesser pardon " for the town of 2 A large portion of the contents of this MS.
Boston, " observing his time, as the Pope was (Reg. Append. 58) consists either of tunes
newly come from hunting into his pavilion, written in the tenor clef which may have been
he, with his companions, approached with his parts, or of tenor parts which may contain
English presents, brought in with a three-mans tunes. When a composition was made upon
song (as we call it) in the English tongue, and a tune, the subject is almost alwajs to be found
all after the English fashion " (Foxe). The care- in the tenor.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
49
Another version of the tune was printed in the reign of James I.
by Ravenscroft, in his collection called Deuteromelia (1609), under the
heading of " Freemen's Songs to three voices" : —
vPp-J_J Jr^TJ-
1
—^r + . m ? r i tn - m . p ? +
~vw~? —
By a bancke as
0 I i
i — £h — ' — i f — k~i — 1~
I lay, .... mus-ingon a
i S
thing that was
y
11 i ^ t
^K- d . J 3
J. bJ ^ i* — f ? r? -\
\m* f f ' f—
(S3 - — * ^ —
-^ — — i 1 — i
-f?-h
past and gone, hey how; In the merry month of May, O somewhat be
z^±
- fore the day, Me-t bought I heard at the last
O the gen - tie
O the gentle Nightingale,
the Lady and mistres of all Musicke,
She sits downe ever in the dale,
singing with her notes small,
Quavering them wonderfull thicke.
O for Joy my spirits were quicke,
to heare the sweet Birde how merely she
And said, good Lord defend [could sing,
England with thy most holy hand,
And save noble James our King.
It is impossible, comparing these two versions (even if the comparison
be confined to the words), to feel any confidence in Ravenscroft's so-called
Freemen's Songs} And though some of them will better bear scrutiny
than this example can be said to do, I have felt obliged to omit them
here (which, had they been more trustworthy, would have been their
proper place), and to insert most of them later under Ravenscroft's own
date. — ED.]
\ The first section of Ravenscroft's alto part
to this tune is almost note for note the same as
the first section of the tune itself in the MS.
version. It is very possible that if the tune had
often been set, and often " broken" (for each
musician would break it differently), consider-
; ble doubt might exist in Ravenscroft's time as
to what it ought really to be. He may not
1 ave had access to any MS. so old as the one
(juoted above, and he may have been misled
l>y melodious "breaking" passages and by
corrupt versions of the words ; it is even con-
ceivable that he may have mistaken descant-
i:ig passages in other parts for portions of the
tune itself.
It should also be remembered that in 1609,
when he undertook to reproduce the old Free-
men's Songs, Ravenscroft was only seventeen
years old, and that in matters which already in
his time pertained to scholarship he had pre-
sumably something yet to learn. I am aware
that this estimate of his age makes the year of
his birth 1592, instead of 1582, the date which
has hitherto been accepted. But I rely upon
a statement, published by Ravenscroft himself,
which is contained in the heading to some
commendatory verses by one R. LL., prefixed
to the Briefs Discourse, which appeared in
1614. — "De ingenuo juvene, T. R. (annos 22
nato}" &a— ED.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
I HAVE BEEN A FOSTER.1
B.M. Addl. MSS. 31,922 ; Musica Antigua, from a MS. in the possession of
J. Stafford Smith.
I have bene a fos - ter, long and ma - ny a day :
[Fast.}
r r r
r
Fos - ter wyl I be no more, no long • er shote I may.
/T\
=8
^ ^:
J-TJ-d-a
&
r f- T r
:
^ J
•&-
i
Yet have I bene a fos
&
n*?
r r r i
1_LJL^
^
[I give here one more example of a tune extracted from a broken
plainsong ; and as the composition which contains it is complete, and
moreover of moderate length, [ have given that also below. It is from
Addl. MSS. 31,922, and is by Dr. Cooper, a leading musician during the
reign of Henry VII. and the early years of his successor. The reader
will observe that the breaking consists almost entirely (if my notion of
the probable tune be accepted) of alteration in the value of notes ;
interpolation occurring only at the end of the second and third sections
These endings, as I have given them above, are the two forms of the
final cadence which were, perhaps, most commonly in use in the early
1 Forester.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC. 51
part of Henry VIII.'s reign, and they seem to be indicated by the
plainsong.
Stafford Smith was unfortunate in respect to this tune. The long
and unintelligible composition which he printed, from his MS., in
Musica Antigua is more probably an elaborate descant than a plain-
song. It opens with the same notes as Dr. Cooper's alto part.
Dr. Cooper's setting, in modern clefs, &c., here follows :—
[ALTO.]
9 i sznEa
ffntnvi \
{^
i r IJ
sgz53z f^> <^>
*— ^ *— ^
\ \
i i it
iJ 3
[Tune, TENOR.]
i u
^-j ^] x—j r Y^A
\My \^i/ ^2 ^-^
f^J
, ,
/^^
rj r^> £3 <*•>£.•-> \ M ||
I have bene a fos - - ter, long . . and ma-ny a day :
[BASS.]
7^\ • s~- } --— ^
111 i M
P4b— (* ^ — ±^_
^ }J-^J 4 -H
£Zp \^2
r^^ — ^""^
— ]f^\ —
(1?)
n^
Fos - - - ter wyl I be no more
. no long-er shote
I . . may. Yet have ... I bene a fos
ter.
ED.]
E 2
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
[*]
I LOATHE THAT I DID LOVE.
Lord Surrey's Songs and Sonnets, edited by Dr. Nott, 1814.'
I lothethat I did love, in youthe
that I thoughte sweete :
re-quires for my bee - hove, me - thincke it is not meete.
J i.l I i # #
•Jr /^- *S
-^J - '
^
-rr^
The song will be found among the ballads that illustrate Shakespeare,
in Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry.
Three stanzas are sung by the grave-digger in Hamlet ; but they are
much corrupted, and in all probability designedly, to suit the character
of an illiterate clown. On the stage the grave-digger now sings them to
the tune of the " Children in the Wood."
In the Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions, 15/8, is a ballad
in which " the lover complaineth of his lady's inconstancy ; to the tune
of ' I lothe that I did love.' "
[In the British Museum, Additional MSS. 4,900, is another setting of
this song, not much later in date than the one given above ; but it is more
scholastic, and evidently a piece of chamber music. — ED.]
1 On the margin of a copy of the Earl of
Surrey's poems, in the possession of Sir W. W.
Wynne, some of the little airs to which his
favourite songs were sung are written in
characters of the times. Dr. Nott printed
them from that copy. [I have not been able
to meet with this work. The tune, as I have
given it above, is taken from a copy of the one
printed by Dr. Nott, in the handwriting of
Dr. Crotch, which I found among the author's
papers.] — ED.
THE EARLIER POPULAR MUSIC.
53
NOW, ROBIN, LEND TO ME THY BOW.
Pammelia, 1609.
(Canon.) J
V . |
XI /*
| ,
— ?"^ ^^
B 3
1
^ ^ i
cJ cJ
xsjy ^^^
• — -^
Now
Rob - in lend . .
1
. . to
me thy
bow,
/(
^ i
KU
1 1
Q
| j
1
1 !
*" Sweet
Rob - in
lend to
r> •
me thy
bow,
—
r i* ^
I* i
f
1
P i*
3
^-J
J.
1 1
i
1 1
1
For
I must now a
hunt - ing
s*3^
with my la - dy
goe,
1- -f° I,
(/ .— s
22
L **\^
^n r**^
I
\
1
II
With
my
sweet la
dy
gOc.
And whither will thy lady goe ?
Sweet Wilkin, tell it unto mee ;
And thou shalt have my hawke, my hound,
and eke my bow,
To wait on thy lady.
My lady will to Uppingham,
To Uppingham forsooth will shee ;
And I my selfe appointed for to be the
man
To wait on my lady.
Adieu, good Wilkin, all beshrewde,
Thy hunting nothing pleaseth mee ;
But yet beware thy babling hounds stray
not abroad
For angring of thy lady.
My hounds shall be led in line
So well I can assure it thee ;
Unlesse by straine of view some pursue I
may finde,
To please my sweet lady.
With that the lady shee came in,
And wild them all for to agree ;
For honest hunting never was accounted
sinne.
Nor never shall for mee.
[This canon is the only known old form of the tune. It evidently,
from the contexture of the harmony, belongs to Henry VIII.'s reign;
and the original, if this be not the original, would of course be older
still. It seems, however, to be still in use as a song in some parts of the
country, and a version (closely resembling the above, but in a modern key)
was noted down for the author by a friend in Leicestershire, while the
former edition of this work was in preparation. — ED.]
Among the burdens sung by Moros in Wager's interlude, before
mentioned, is the following : —
" Robin, lende me thy bowe, thy bowe,
Robin, the bow, Robin, lend to me thy boiv-a."
1 The words are given from Ritson's Ancient further, as that author's reference is incorrect.
Songs. I have been unable to trace them —ED.
54
PART II.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
BEFORE the Reformation the hearing of narratives in rhyme, the
longer the better,1 was, as we have seen, a favourite diversion of all
classes of society in this country ; but the spread of education among
those who could afford it, together with the austerity of manners affected
by the adherents of the new doctrines, brought about a reaction against
these unprofitable amusements in the minds of the better classes.
Ballads^ as these compositions now came to be called, were even to a
great extent proscribed, and those who made and sang them were
prosecuted without mercy if anything of the nature of political or religious
satire could be extracted from the narrative.3 The perseciitiofl- began
with a proclamation in 1533, to suppress "fond [foolish] books, ballads,
rhimes, and other lewd treatises in the English tongue " ; and in 1537 a
man of the name of John Hogon was arrested for singing a political
ballad to the tune of "The Hunt is up." In 1543 an Act was passed
entitled " An Act for the advancement of trucTreligion, and for the
abolishment of the contrary " (Anno 34-35, c. i.), and recites that
" froward and malicious minds, intending to subvert the true exposition
of Scripture, have taken upon them, by printed ballads, rhymes^ &c.,
subtilly and craftily to instruct his highness' people, and specially the
youth of this his realm, untruly. For reformation whereof, his majesty
1 Chaucer's " Troilus and Cresseide," though and King Henry V., arrayed in mantles of
almost as long as the yEneid, was to be garter, and a figure like Henry VI. kneeling
" redde, or else songe," and Warton has before them with a ballad against the Lollards ;
printed a portion of the Life of St. Swithin and in the third, one of our Lady, sitting with
from a manuscript, with points and accents her child in her lap, and holding a crown in
inserted, both over the words and dividing the her hand, St. George and St. Denis kneeling
line, evidently for the purposes of singing or on either side, presenting to her King Henry
recitation. with a ballad in his hand.
2 Probably the earliest mention of the name 3 Henry^IH. had given all possible en-
is to be found in a description of the coronation couragement to ballads and songs in the early
banquet of Hejary^VI. (1429), where among part of his reign, both in public and private, —
the devices were, ~IH the first course, a and in proof of their having been used on
" sotiltie " (subtlety) of St. Edward and St. public occasions, I may mention the coronation
Lewis, in coat armour, holding between them of Anne Boleyn, when a choir of men and boys
a figure like King Henry, similarly armed, and stood on the leads of St. Martin's Church, and
standing with a ballad under his feet. In the sang new ballads in praise of her majesty,
second, a device of the Emperor Sigismund
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 55
considereth it most requisite to purge his realm of all such books, ballads,
rhymes, and songs, as be pestiferous and noisome. Therefore, if any
printer shall print, give, or deliver any such, he shall suffer for the first
time imprisonment for three months, and forfeit for every copy io/., and
for the second time, forfeit all his goods and his body be committed to
perpetual prison." Although the Act only expresses " all such books,
ballads, rhymes, and songs as be pestiferous and noisome," there is a list
of exceptions to it, and no ballads of any description are excepted.
" Provided, also, that all books printed before the year 1540, entituled
Statutes, Chronicles, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's books, Gower's books,
and stones of men's lives, shall not be comprehended in the prohibition
of this Act."
"Ballads," says Mr. Collier, "seem to have multiplied after Edward VI.
came to the throne ; no new proclamation was issued, nor statute passed
on the subject, while Edward continued to reign; but in less than a
month after Mary became queen, she published an edict against
4 books, ballads, rhymes, and treatises,' which she complained had been
' set out by printers and stationers, of an evil zeal for lucre, and covetous
of vile gain.' There is little doubt, from the few pieces remaining, that
it was, in a considerable degree, effectual for the end in view."
The persecution ceased with the accession of Elizabeth, but the
educated classes did not again bestow their patronage upon this kind of
amusement, and henceforward the ballad became the exclusive property
of the lower orders of the people, both song and tune being in future
provided for them by persons little if at all removed in social position
from themselves.
Some idea of the number of ballads that were printed in the early
part of the reign of Elizabeth may be formed from the fact that seven
hundred and ninety-six ballads, left for entry at Stationers' Hall, remained
at the end of the year 1560 in the cupboard of the Council Chamber of
the Company to be transferred to the new Wardens, and only forty-four
books.1 As to the latter part of her reign, see Bishop Hall, 1 597 :—
" Some drunken rhymer thinks his time well spent
If he can live to see his name in print ;
Who, when he once is fleshed to the press,
And sees his handsell have such fair success,
Sung to the wheel, and sung unto the pail?
He sends forth thraves* of ballads to the sale."
1 See Colliers Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company, vol. i. p. 28.
2 " Sung to the wheel," i.e., to the spinning 3 " Thrave " signifies a number of sheaves
wheel; and "sung to the pail," sung by milk- of corn set up together; metaphorically^
maids, of whose love of ballads further proofs an indefinite number of anything.— Naref
will be adduced. Glossary.
56 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
And to the same purport, in Martin Mar-sixtus, 1592: " I lothe to speak
it, every red-nosed rhymester is an author; every drunken man's dream
is a book ; and he, whose talent of little wit is hardly worth a farthing,
yet layeth about him so outrageously as if all Helicon had run through
his pen : in a word, scarce a cat can look out of a gutter, but out starts a
halfpenny chronicler, and presently a proper new ballet of a strange sight
is indited."
Henry Chettle, in his pamphlet entitled Kind Harfs Dreamt 1592,
speaks of idle youths singing and selling ballads in every corner of cities
and market towns, and especially at fairs, markets, and such like public
meetings. Contrasting that time with the simplicity of former days, he
says, "What hath there not, contrary to order, been printed? Now
ballads are abusively chanted in every street; and from London this
evil has overspread Essex and the adjoining counties. There is many a
tradesman of a worshipful trade, yet no stationer, who after a little
bringing up apprentices to singing brokery, takes into his shop some
fresh men, and trusts his servants of two months' standing with a dozen
groatsworth of ballads. In which, if they prove thrifty, he makes them
pretty chapmen, able to spread more pamphlets by the state forbidden
than all the booksellers in London." He particularly mentions the sons
of one Barnes, " most frequenting Bishop's Stortford, the one with a
squeaking treble, the other with an ale-blown base," as bragging that
they earned " twenty shillings a day ; whilst others, horse and man, the
man with many a hard meal, and the horse pinched for want of pro-
vender, have together hardly taken ten shillings in a week."
In a pamphlet intended to ridicule the follies of the times, printed in
1591, the writer says, that if men that are studious would "read that
which is good, a poor man may be able " — not to obtain bread the
cheaper, but as the most desirable of all results, he would be able " to
buy three ballets for a halfpenny." l
" And tell prose writers, stories are so stale,
That penny ballads make a better sale."
PasquilFs Madness^ 1 600.
The words of the ballads were written by such men as Elderton,
" with his ale-crammed nose," and Thomas Deloney, " the balleting silk-
weaver of Norwich." The former is thus described in a MS. of the time
of James L, formerly in the possession of Mr. Payne Collier : —
" Will. Elderton's red nose is famous everywhere,
And many a ballet shows it cost him very dear ;
1 Fearefull and lamentable e/ects of two dangerous Comets that shall appeare> &c., 4to, 1591.
THE EARLIER BALLADS. ^
In ale, and toast, and spice, he spent good store of coin,
You need not ask him twice to take a cup of wine.
But though his nose was red, his hand was very white,
In work it never sped, nor took in it delight ;
No marvel therefore 'tis, that white should be his hand
That ballets writ a score, as you well understand."
Nashe, in Have with you to Saffron Walden, says of Deloney, " He
hath rhyme enough for all miracles, and wit to make a Garland of Good
Will, &c., but whereas his muse, from the first peeping forth, hath stood
at livery at an ale-house wisp, never exceeding a penny a quart, day or
night — and this dear year, together with the silencing of his looms,
scarce that — he is constrained to betake himself to carded ale " (i.e., ale
mixed with small beer), " whence it proceedeth that since Candlemas, or
his jigg of John for the King, not one merry ditty will come from him ;
nothing but The Thunderbolt against Swearers, Repent, England, Repent,
and the Strange Judgments of God"
Such, then, were the men who were to replace the minstrels ; but
from several sources we learn that the old race was not yet quite extinct.
And first, " A Dialogue between Custom and Verity, concerning the
use and abuse of dauncinge and minstralsye," published by Thomas
Lovell in 1581. Verity says : —
" But this do minstrels clean forget : Among the lovers of the truth,
Some godly songs they have, Ditties of truth they sing ;
Some wicked ballads and unmeet, Among the papists, such as of
As_ companies do. crave. Their godless legends spring
For filthies they have filthy songs ; The minstrels do, with instruments,
For * some ' lascivious rhymes ; With songs, or else with Jest,
For honest, good ; for sober, grave Maintain themselves; but, as they use, [act]
Songs ; solhey watch their "times. Of these naught is the best."
Collier's Extracts Reg. Stat. Comp., vol. ii., pp. 144, 145.
Also Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, 1602, speaking of Tregarrick,
then the residence of Mr. Buller, the sheriff, says, "It was sometime the
Wideslades' inheritance, until the father's rebellion forfeited it," and the
" son then led a walking life with his harp, to gentlemen's houses, where-
through, and by his other active qualities, he was entitled Sir Tristram ;
neither wanted he (as some say) a l belle hound', the more aptly to
resemble his pattern."
So in the " Pleasant, plain, and pithy pathway, leading to a virtuous
and honest life" (about 1550),
" Very lusty I was, and pleasant withall,
To sing, dance, and play at the ball ....
And besides all this, I could then finely play
On the harp much better than now far away,
By which my minstrelsy and my fair speech and sport,
All the maids in the parish to me did resort."
58 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
As minstrelsy declined, the harp became the common resource of
the blind, and towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth, harpers were
proverbially blind : —
" If thou'lt not have her look'd on by thy guests,
Bid none but harpers henceforth to thy feasts."
Guilpiits Skialetheia^ 1 598.
There are many ballads about blind harpers, and many tricks were
played upon them, such as a rogue engaging a harper to perform at a
tavern, and stealing the plate " while the unseeing harper plays on."
As to the other street and tavern musicians, Gosson tells us, in his
Short Apologie of the Schoole of Abuse, 1586, that " London is so full of
unprofitable pipers and fiddlers, that a man can no sooner enter a
tavern, than two or three cast (i.e., companies) of them hang at his heels,
to give him a dance before he departs"; but they sang ballads and
catches as well as played dances. They also played at dinner,
" Not a dish removed
But to the music, nor a drop of wine
Mixt with the water, without harmony."
" Thou need no more send for a fidler to a feast (says Lyly), than a
beggar to a fair."
In the thirty-ninth year of Elizabeth, an jict was passed by which
" Minstrels, wandering abroad " were held to be " rogues, vagabonds, and
sturdy beggars," and were to be punished as such. This act seems to
have extinguished the profession of the Minstrels, who so long had basked
in the sunshine of prosperity. The name, however, remained, and was
applied to itinerant harpers, fiddlers, and other strolling musicians, who
are thus described by Puttenham, in his Arte of English Poesie, printed
in 1589. Speaking of their music, he says, "The over busy and too
speedy return of one manner of tune, doth too much annoy, and, as it
were, glut the ear, unless it be in small and popular musicks sung by
these Cantabanqui upon benches and barrels' heads, where they have
none other audience than boys or country fellows that pass by them in
the street ; or else by blind harpers, or such like tavern minstrels, that
give a fit of mirth for a groat ; and their matter being for the most
part stories of old time, as the Tale of Sir Topas, Bevis of Southampton,
Guy of Warwick, Adam Bell and Clym of the Clough, and such other
old romances or historical rhimes, made purposely for the recreation of
the common people at Christmas dinners and bride-ales, and in taverns
and alehouses, and such other places of base resort. Also they " [these
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 59
short tunes] " be used in Carols and Rounds, and such like light and
lascivious poems, which are commonly more commodiously uttered by
these buffons, or vices in plays, than by any other person."
If we seek for the reason of so remarkable an outburst of activity
as has been described, it will probably be found in the fact that music in
the latter half of the sixteenth century was the predominant art, and
that no subject during this period, perhaps not even excepting religion,
so much occupied men's minds.
During the long reign of Elizabeth, music seems to have been in
universal cultivation, as well as in universal esteem. Not only was it a
necessary qualification for ladies and gentlemen, but even the city of
London advertised the musical abilities of boys educated in Bridewell
and Christ's Hospital, as a mode of recommending them as servants,
apprentices, or husbandmen.1 In Deloney's History of the gentle Craft^
1598, one who tried to pass for a shoemaker was detected as an
imposter, because he could neither " sing, sound the trumpet, play upon
the flute, nor reckon up his tools in rhyme." Tinkers sang catches ;
milkmaids sang ballads ; carters whistled ; each trade, and even the
beggars, had their special songs ; the base-viol hung in the drawing
room for the amusement of waiting visitors ; and the lute, cittern, and
virginals, for the amusement of waiting customers, were the necessary
furniture of the barber's shop. They had music at dinner ; music at
supper ; music at weddings ; music at funerals ; music at night ; music
at dawn ; music at work ; and music at play.
He who felt not, in some degree, its soothing influences, was viewed
as a morose, unsocial being, whose converse ought to be shunned and
regarded with suspicion and distrust.
1 "That the preachers be moved at the in Smith Fielde, at the signe of the Golden
sermons at the Crosse " [St. Paul's. Cross] Tunne;" reprinted in The British Biblio-
" and other convenient times, and that all grapher. Edward VI. granted the charters of
other good notorious meanes be used, to re- incorporation for Bridewell and Christ's Hos-
quire both citizens, artificers, and other, and pital, a few days before his death. Bridewell
also all farmers and other for husbandry, and is a foundation of a mixed and singular nature,
gentlemen and other for their kitchens and partaking of the hospital, prison, and work-
other services, to take servants and children house. Youths were sent to the Hospital as
both out of Bridewell and Christ's Hospital at apprentices to manufacturers, who resided
their pleasures, . . . with further declaration there ; and on leaving, received a donation of
that many of them be of toward qualities in io/., and their freedom of the city. Pepys, in
readyng, wryting, grammer, and musike." his Diary, 5th October, 1664, says, " To new
This is the 66th and last of the " Orders Bridewell, and there I did with great pleasure
appointed to be executed in the cittie of see the many pretty works, and the little
London, for setting rog[ii]es and idle persons children employed, every one to do something
to worke, and for releefe of the poore." "At which was a very fine sight, and worthy
London, printed by Hugh Singleton, dwelling encouragement."
60 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
" The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils ;
The motions of his spirit are as dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus :
Let no such man be trusted."
Merchant of Venice^ act v., sc. I .
Henry Peacham in the Compleat Gentleman, 1622, says, " I dare not
pass so rash a censure of these " (who love not music) " as Pindar doth ;
or the Italian, having fitted a proverb to the same effect, Whom God
loves not, that man loves not music;" he adds, " but I am verily persuaded
that they are by nature very ill disposed, and of such a brutish stupidity
that scarce any thing else that is good and savoureth of virtue is to
be found in them." Tusser, in his " Points of Huswifry united to the
comfort of Husbandry," 1570, recommends the country huswife to select
servants that sing at their work, as being usually the most pains-taking,
and the best. He says :
" Such servants are oftenest painfull and good,
That sing in their labour, as birds in the wood."
With respect to the universal practice of the art, we have the testi-
mony of Morley, who in his Introduction to Practical Musick, I597>
written in dialogue, introduces the pupil thus : " But supper being ended,
and music books, according to custom, being brought to the table, the
mistress of the house presented me with a part, earnestly requesting me
to sing ; but when, after many excuses, I protested unfeignedly that /
could not, every one began to wonder ; yea, some whispered to others,
demanding how I was brought up, so that upon shame of mine ignorance,
I go now to seek out mine old friend, Master Gnorimus, to make myself
his scholar."
Laneham, to whom we are indebted for the description of the
pageants at Kenilworth in 1575, thus describes his own evening amuse-
ments. " Sometimes I foot it with dancing ; now with my gittern, and
else with my cittern, then at the virginals (ye know nothing comes amiss
to me) : then carol I up a song withal ; that by and by they come
flocking about me like bees to honey ; and ever they cry, ' Another, good
Laneham, another.' " He who thus speaks of his playing upon three
instruments and singing, had been promoted from a situation in the
royal stables, through the favour of the Earl of Leicester, to the duty of
keeping eaves-droppers from the council-chamber door.
Dekker, in The GuWs Horn-book, tells us that the usual routine of a
young gentlewoman's education was " to read and write ; to play upon
the virginals, lute, and cittern ; and to read prick-song (i.e., music written
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 6 1
or pricked down) at first sight'' Whenever a lady was highly commended
by a writer of that age, her skill in music was sure to be included ; as —
" Her own tongue speaks all tongues, and her own hand
Can teach all strings to speak in their best grace."
Hey wood? s "A Woman kiirdivith Kindness?
" Observe," says Lazarillo, who is instructing the ladies how to render
themselves most attractive, " it shall be your first and finest praise to
sing the note of every new fashion at first sight. — (Middletorts Blurt,
Master Constable, 1602.) Gosson, in his Schoole of Abuse, 1579, alluding
to the custom of serenading, recommends young ladies to be careful not
to " flee to inchaunting," and says, " if assaulted with music in the night,
close up your eyes, stop your ears, tie up your tongues ; when they speak,
answer them not ; when they halloo, stoop not ; when they sigh, laugh
at them ; when they sue, scorn them," He admits that " these are ha?d
lessons," but advises them " nevertheless to drink up the potion, though
it like not [please not] your taste." In those days, however, the
" serenate, which the starv'd lover sings to his proud fair," was not quite
so customary in England as the Morning song or Hunt's-up ; such as —
" Fain would I wake you, sweet, but fear
I should invite you to worse cheer ; . . .
I'd wish my life no better play,
Your dream by night, your thought by day :
Wake, gently wake,
Part softly from your dreams !
The Morning flies
To your fair eyes,
To guide her special beams."
As to the custom of having a base-viol (or viol da gamba) hanging
up in drawing rooms for visitors to play on, one quotation from Ben
Jonson may suffice : " In making love to her, never fear to be out,
for ... a base viol shall hang o' the wall, of purpose, shall put you in
presently." — (jGifford's Edit., vol. ii., p. 162.) If more to the same purport
be required, many similar allusions will be found in the same volume.
(See pages 125, 126, 127, and 472, and Gifford's Notes.)
The base-viol was also played upon by ladies (at least during the
following reign), although thought by some " an unmannerly instrument
for a woman." The mode in which some ladies passed their time is de-
scribed in the following lines, and perhaps, even in the present day,
instances not wholly unlike might be found.
" This is all that women do,
Sit and answer them that woo ;
Deck themselves in new attire,
To entangle fresh desire ;
After dinner sing and play,
Or dancing, pass the time away."
62 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
The musical instruments principally in use in barbers' shops during
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were the cittern the gittern,
the lute, and the virginals. Of these the cittern was the most common,
perhaps because most easily played. It was in shape somewhat like
the English guitar of the last century, but had only four double strings
of wire, i.e., two to each note.1 These were tuned to the notes g, b, dy
and e of the present treble staff, or to corresponding intervals ; for no
rules are given concerning the pitch of these instruments, unless they
were to be used in concert. The instructions for tuning are generally
to draw up the treble string as high as possible, without breaking it, and
to tune the others from that. A particular feature of the cittern was
the carved head, which is frequently alluded to by the old writers.2
Playford in his " Mustek's Delight on the Cithern restored and refined to
a more easie and pleasant manner of playing than formerly," 1666,
speaks of having revived the instrument, and restored it to what it was
in the reign of Queen Mary, and his tuning agrees with that in Anthony
Holborne's Cittharn Schoole, 1597, and in Thomas Robinson's New
Citharen Lessons; 1609. The peculiarity of the cittern, or cithren, was
that the third string was tuned lower than the fourth, so that if the first
or highest string were tuned to £, the third would be the g below, and
the fourth the intermediate b. The cittern appears to have been an
instrument of English invention.3
Of the gittern or ghitterne, I can say but little, not having seen any
instruction book for the instrument. Ritson says it differed chiefly
from the cittern in being strung with gut instead of wire ; and, from the
various allusions to it, I have no doubt of his correctness. Perhaps,
also, it was somewhat less in size. In the catalogue of musical
instruments left in the charge of Philip van Wilder, at the death of
Henry VIII., we find " four Gitterons, which are called Spanish viallcs."
1 Sii John Hawkins, in his History of I assume to mean Cittern, because the word
Music, vol. ii., p. 602, 8vo., copies the Liuto, for Lute, was in common use. He
Cislrum from Mersenne, as the Cittern, but says, " Fu Ja Cetera, usata prima tra gli
it has six strings, and therefore more closely Inglesi che da altre nazioni, nella quale Isola
resembles the English guitar. si lavoravano gia in eccellenza ; quantunque
2 In LovJs Labour Lost, act v., sc. 2, Boyet hoggi le piu riputate da loro siano quelle che
compares Holofernes' countenance to that of a si lavorano in Brescia ; con tutto questo e
cittern head. In Forde's Lovers' Melancholy, adoperata ed apprezzata da nobili, e fu cosl
act ii., sc. I, "Barbers shall wear thee on detta dagli autori di essa, per forse resuscitare
their citterns ;" and in Fletcher's Love's Cure, 1'antica Cithara ; ma la differenza che sia tra
" You cittern head ! you ill-countenanced la nostra e quella, si e possuto benissimo
cur !" &c., &e. conoscere da quello che se n' e di sopra
8 The word Cetera, as employed by Galilei detto."— Din logo di Vincenzo Galilei, nobile
(father of the great astronomer, Galileo Galilei), Fiortnlino, fol. 1581, p. 147.
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 63
As Galilei says, in 1581, that "Viols are little used in Spain, and that
they do not make them,"1 I assume Spanish viol to mean the guitarra,
or guitar. The gittern is ranked with string instruments in the following
extract from the old play of Lingua, written in this reign : —
" Tis true the finding of a dead horse-head
Was the first invention of string instruments,
Whence rose the Gitterne, Viol, and the Lute;
Though others think the Lute was first devis'd
In imitation of a tortoise back,
Whose sinews, parched by Apollo's beams,
Echo'd about the concave of the shell :
And seeing the shortest and smallest gave shrillest sound,
They found out Frets, whose sweet diversity
(Well touched by the skilful learned fingers)
Raiseth so strange a multitude of Chords;
Which, their opinion many do confirm,
Because Testudo signifies a Lute."
Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. v., p. 198.
Coles, in his Dictionary, describes gittern as a small sort of cittern, and
Playford printed Cithren and Gittern Lessons, with plain and easie
Instructions for Beginners thereon, together in one book, in 1659. Ritson
may have gained his information, from this book, as he mentions it in
the second edition of his Ancient Songs, but I have not succeeded in
finding a copy.
The lute was once the most popular instrument in Europe, although
now rarely to be seen, except represented in old pictures. It has been
superseded by the guitar, but for what reason it is difficult to say,
unless from the greater convenience of the bent sides of the guitar for
holding the instrument, when touching the higher notes of the finger-
board. The tone of the lute is decidedly superior to the guitar, the
instrument being larger, and having a convex back, somewhat like the
vertical section of a gourd, or more nearly resembling that of a pear.
As it was used chiefly for accompanying the voice, there were only eight
frets, or divisions of the finger-board, and these frets (so called from
fretting, or stopping the strings) were made by tying pieces of cord,
dipped in glue, tightly round the neck of the lute, at intervals of a
semitone. It had virtually six strings, because, although the number
was eleven or twelve, five, at least, were doubled, the first, or treble,
being sometimes a single string.2 The head, in which the pegs to turn
1 " La viola da gamba, e da braccio, nella There were lutes of various sizes, from the
Spagna non se ne fanno, e poco vi si usano." — mandura, or mandore, to the theorbo, and
Dialogo della Mitsica, fol. 1581, p. 147. arch-lute; some with less, and others with
2 I speak only of the usual English lute. more strings.
64 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
the strings were inserted, receded almost at a right angle. The most
usual mode of tuning it was as follows : assuming c in the third space
of the treble clef to be the pitch of the first string (i.e., cc\ the base,
or sixth string would be C ; the tenor, or fifth, F ; the counter-tenor,
or fourth, b flat ; the great mean, or third, d ; the small mean, or
second, £V and the minikin-, or treble, cc.
Lute strings1 were a usual present to ladies as new-year's gifts.
From Nicholas Progresses we learn that queen Elizabeth received a box
of lute-strings, as a new year's gift, from Innocent Corry, and at the
same time, a box of lute-strings and a glass of sweet water from
Ambrose Lupo. When young men in want of money went to usurers,
it was their common practice to lend it in the shape of goods which
could only be re-sold at a great loss ; and lute strings were then as
commonly the medium employed as bad wine is now. In Lodge's
Looking Glasse for London and Englande, 1594, the usurer being very
urgent for the repayment of his loan, is thus answered, " I pray you,
Sir, consider that my loss was great by the commodity I took up ;
you know, Sir, I borrowed of you forty pounds, whereof I had ten
pounds in money, and thirty pounds in lute-strings, which, when I came
to sell again, I could get but five pounds for them, so had I, Sir, but
fifteen pounds for my forty." So in Dekker's A Nights Conjuring,
the spendthrift, speaking of his father, says, " He cozen'd young gentle-
men of their land, only for me, had acres mortgaged to him by wiseacres
for three hundred pounds, paid in hobby-horses, dogs, bells, and
lute-strings, which, if they had been sold by the drum, or at an
out-rop (auction), with the cry of 'No man better?' would never have
yielded £$o" Nash alludes twice to the custom. In Will Summer's
Last Will and Testament, he says, " I know one that ran in debt, in
the space of four or five years, above fourteen thousand pounds in
lute-strings and grey paper ; " and in Christ's Tears over Jerusalem,
1593: "In the first instance, spendthrifts and prodigals obtain what
they desire, but at the second time of their coming, it is doubtful
1 Mace, in his Mustek's Monument, 1678, Mvnikins" was 22d. the gross, but as no
speaking of lute-strings, says, " Chuse your other lute-strings are named, I assume that
trebles, seconds, and thirds, and some of your only the smallest were then occasionally
small octaves, especially the sixth, out of your imported. Minikin is one of the many words,
Minikins ; the fourth and fifth, and most of derived from music or musical instruments,
your octaves, ol Venice Catlins ; your Pistoys which have puzzled the commentators on the
or Lyons only for the great bases." In the old dramatists. The first string of a violin
list of Custom House duties printed in I54S» was a^so called a minikin,
the import duty on " lute-strings called
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 65
to say whether they shall have money or no : the world grows hard,
and we are all mortal : let them make him any assurance before a
judge, and they shall have some hundred pounds (per consequence)
in silks and velvets. The third time, if they come, they have baser
commodities. The fourth time, lute-strings and grey paper ; and then,
I pray you pardon me, I am not for you : pay me what you owe me,
and you shall have anything." — (Dodsley, v. ix. p. 22.)
The virginals (probably so called because chiefly played upon by
young girls), resembled in shape the " square " pianoforte of the present
day, as the harpsichord did the " grand." The sound of the pianoforte
is produced by a hammer striking the strings, but when the keys of
the virginals or harpsichord were pressed, the " jacks," (slender pieces
of wood, armed at the upper ends with quills) were raised to the
strings, and acted as plectra, impinging against, or twitching them.
These jacks were the constant subject of simile and pun ; for instance,
in a play of Dekker's, where Matheo complains that his wife is never
at home, Orlando says, " No, for she's like a pair of virginals, always
with jacks at her tail." — (Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. iii. p. 398). And
in Middleton's Father HubburcFs Tales, describing Charity as frozen,
he says, " Her teeth chattered in her head, and leaped up and down
like virginal jacks."
One branch of the barber's occupation in former days was to draw
teeth, to bind up wounds, and to let blood. The parti-coloured pole,
which was exhibited at the doorway, painted after the fashion of a
bandage, was his sign, and the teeth he had drawn were suspended
at the windows, tied upon lute strings. The lute, the cittern, and the
gittern hung from the walls, and the virginals stood in the corner of
his shop. "If idle," says the author of The Trimming of Thomas
Nashe, " barbers pass their time in life-delighting musique," (1597).
The barber in Lyly's Midas (1592), says to his apprentice, "Thou
knowest I have taught thee the knacking of the hands,1 like the tuning
of a cittern," and Truewit, in Ben Jonson's Silent Woman, wishes the
barber "may draw his own teeth, and add them to the lute-string."
In the same play, Morose, who had married the barber's daughter,
thinking her faithless, exclaims " That cursed barber ! I have married
his cittern, that is common to all men." One of the commentators
not understanding this, altered it to " I have married his cistern? &c.
1 The knacking of the hands was a peculiar gether, which every barber was exp ected to
crack with the fingers, by knocking them to- make while shaving a customer.
F
66 THE EARLIER BALLADS
Dekker also speaks of " a barber's cittern for every serving-man to
play upon."
One of the Merrie conceited jests of George Peele is the stealing of
a barber's lute, and in Lord Falkland's Wedding Night, we read,
"He has travelled and speaks languages, as a barber's boy plays o' th}
gittern." Ben Jonson says,1 " I can compare him to nothing more
happily than a barber's virginals ; for every man may play upon
him," and in The Staple of Neivs, " My barber Tom, one Christmas,
got into a Masque at court, by his wit and the good means of his
cittern, holding up thus for one of the music." To the latter passage
Gifford adds another in a note. " For you know, says Tom Brown,
that a cittern is as natural to a barber, as milk to a calf, or dancing
bears to a bagpiper."
As to the music they played, we may assume it to have been,
generally, the common tunes of the day, and such as would be
familiar to all. Morley, in his Introduction to Music, tells us that the
tune called the Quadrant Pavan, was called Gregory Walker, " because
it walketh 'mongst barbers and fiddlers more common than any other,'
and says in derision, " Nay, you sing you know not what ; it should
seem you came lately from a barber's shop, where you had Gregory
Walker, or a Coranto, played in the new proportions by them lately
found out." Notwithstanding this, we find the Quadran Pavan (so
called, I suppose, because it was a pavan for four to dance) was one
of the tunes made use of in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; and
Morley himself arranged it for instruments, in his Consort Lessons.
Part-Singing, and especially the singing Rounds, or Roundelays,
and Catches, was general throughout England during the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. In the Moralities and the earliest plays,
when part-music was sung instead of old ballads, it was generally in
Canon, for although neither Round, Catch, nor Canon be specified, we
commonly find some direction from one of the dramatis persona to the
others to sing after him.2 Thus, in the old Morality called New
Custome (Dodsley, vol. i.), Avarice says : —
" But, Sirs, because we have tarried so long.
If you be good fellows, let us depart with a song."
1 Every Man in his Humour. Act iii., sc. 2. of as many parts as there are singers. The
2 Catch, Round or Roundelay, and Canon Catch theoretically differs only in that the
in unison, are, in music, nearly the same thing. wor is of one part are made to answer, or
In all, the harmony is to be sung by several catch the other ; as, " Ah ! how, Sophia," sung
persons; and is so contrived, that, though like "a house o' fire," " Burney's History,"
each sings precisely the same notes as his like "burn his history," &c. This catch of
fellows, yet, by beginning at stated periods of words was not always observed in practice,
time from each other, there results a harmony
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 67
To which Cruelty answers : —
" I am pleased, and therefore let every man
Follow after in order as well as he can."
And in John Heywood's The Four P's, one of our earliest plays, the
Apothecary, having first asked the Pedler whether he can sing at sight,
says, " Who that lyste sing after me" In neither case are the words
of the Round given.
Tinkers, tailors, blacksmiths, servants, clowns, and others, are so con-
stantly mentioned as singing music in parts, and by so many writers, as
to leave no doubt of the ability of at least many among them to do so.
Perhaps the form of Catch, or Round, was more generally in favour,
because, as each would sing the same notes, there would be but one
part to remember, and the tune would guide those who learnt by ear.
We find Roundelays generally termed " merry," and cheerfulness
was the common attribute of country songs.
In Peek's Arraignment of Paris, 1584 : —
" Some Rounds, or merry Roundelays, — we sing no other songs ;
Your melancholic notes not to our country mirth belongs."
And in his King Edward /., the Friar says : —
" And let our lips and voices meet in a merry country song."
In Shakespeare's A Winters Tale, when Autolycus says that the
song is a merry one, and that " there's scarce a maid westward but
she sings it," Mopsa answers, " We can both sing it : if thou wilt bear
a part, thou shalt hear — 'tis in three parts."
Tradesmen and artificers had evidently not retrograded in their love
of music since the time of Chaucer, whose admirable descriptions have
been before quoted. Occleve, a somewhat later poet, has also remarked
the different result, in this respect, produced by the labour of the hand
and of the head. He says : —
" These artificers see I, day by day,
In the hottest of all their business,
Talken and sing, and make game and play,
And forth their labour passeth with gladness ;
But we labour in travailous stillness ;
We stoop and stare upon the sheep-skin,
And keep most our song and our words in."
And from the numerous later allusions to their singing in parts, I have
selected the following. Peele, in his Old Wives Tale, 1595, says, " This
smith leads a life as merry as a king. Sirrah Frolic, I am sure you are
not without some Round or other ; no doubt but Clunch (the smith)
can bear his part ;" which he accordingly does. In Damon and Pithias,
F 2
68 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
1571, Grimme the collier sings "a bussing base," and Jack and Will,
two of his fellows, " quiddell upon it," that is, they sing the tune and
words of the song whilst he buzzes the burden or under-song. In Ben
Jonson's Silent Woman, we find, " We got this cold sitting up late, and
singing Catches with cloth-workers!' In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night,
Sir Toby saySj " Shall we raise the night-owl in a Catch that will draw
three souls out of one weaver ? " and, in the same play, Malvolio says,
" Do you make an ale-house of my lady's house that ye squeak out your
cozier s Catches, without any mitigation or remorse of voice ? " Dr.
Johnson says cozier means a tailor, from " coudre," to sew ; but Nares
quotes four authorities to prove it to mean a cobbler. In Beaumont
and Fletcher's Coxcomb we find —
" Where were the Watch the while ? Good sober gentlemen,
They were, like careful members of the city,
Drawing in diligent ale, and singing Catches."
In A Declaration of egregious Impostures, 1604, by Samuel Harsnet
(afterwards Archbishop of York), he speaks of " the master setter of
Catches, or Rounds, used to be sung by tinkers as they sit by the
fire, with a pot of good ale between their legs."
Sometimes the names of these Catches are given, as, for instance,
" Three blue beans in a blue bladder, rattle, bladder, rattle," mentioned
in Peele's Old Wive's Tale, in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, and
in Dekker's Old Fortunatus ; or " Whoop, Barnaby," which is also
frequently named. But whoever will read the words of those in
Pammelia, Deuteromelia, Hilton's Catch that catch can, or Playford's
Musical Companion, will not doubt that many of the Catches were
intended for the ale-house and its frequenters ; but not so generally,
the Rounds or Roundelays. Singing in parts was, by no means, con-
fined to the meridian of London ; Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall,
1602, says the same of Cornishmen : — " The Cornishmen have guary
miracles [miracle plays] and three-men's songs, cunningly contrived for
the ditty, and pleasantly for the note."
The song and ballad tunes belonging to this period here follow,
arranged as nearly in chronological order as the circumstances will
allow.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
69
WALSINGHAM. *
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Lady Neville's Virgina Book ; Dorothy Welde's Lute
Book; Barley's New Book of Tabliture, 1596; Holborne's Cittharn Schoole, 1597, &c.
M.M.B.
As I went to Wai - sing - ham, To the shrine with speed,
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[The penultimate bar of the melody is not written otherwise than as
I have given it in any old version that I have seen, whether set for
lute, virginals, or cithern. I do not think it is possible to say with
certainty whether this sudden appearance of the major third in a minor
scale ought to be considered as belonging to the original form of the
tune, or as the invention of one of the composers of the settings in
which the tune is now only to be found. In the concerted vocal music
of this period any such method of closing is I believe unknown.
Indeed, the sixteenth century composers, when writing in scales in
which the third and seventh were by nature 'minor, were accustomed
rather to insist upon those notes m approaching a conclusion, in order
1 Although the earliest versions now to be
found date from the end of the i6th century,
we may naturally suppose that both ballad and
tune were originally composed before 1538,
the year in which the Priory of Walsingham
was dissolved.
Pilgrimages to this once famous shrine com-
menced in or before the reign of Henry III.,
who was there in 124.1. Edward I. was at
Walsingham in 1280, and again in 1296 ; and
Edward II. in 1315. The author of The
Vision of Piers Ploughman says —
" Heremytes on a hepe, with hooked staves,
Wenten to Walsyngham, and her [their]
wenches after."
Henry VII. having kept his Christmas of
1486-7 at Norwich, "from thence went in
manner of pilgrimage to Walsingham, where
he visited Our Lady's Church, famous for
miracles ; and made his prayers and vows for
help and deliverance." And in the following
summer, after the battle of Stoke, " he sent
his banner to be offered to Our Lady of
Walsingham, where before he made his vows."
" Erasmus has given a very exact and
humorous description of the superstitions
practised there in his time. See his account
of the Virgo Parathalassia, in his colloquy,
intituled Peregrinatio Religionis ergo. He tells
us, the rich offerings in silver, gold, and
precious stones, that were shewn him, were
incredible ; there being scarce a person of any
note in England but what some time or other
paid a visit, or sent a present, to Our Lady of
Walsingham. At the dissolution of the monas-
teries in 1538, this splendid image, with another
7O THE EARLIER BALLADS.
that the more genial and cheering sounds of the major seventh and
third, which were necessary to the cadence and final chord, might by
contrast fall with greater effect upon the ear. But in virginal and lute
music the major third does sometimes appear, before the close, in scales
to which it is by nature a stranger. In Byrd's arrangement of All in
a garden green, in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, for instance, in two of
the variations it appears in the bar before the cadence ; but in an upper
part, not in that which takes the tune. In Farnaby's setting of Loth
to depart^ in the same collection, a passage containing the major third,
before the close, has been substituted for the proper ending of the tune ;
and in the present work, in Crimson Velvet, (see p. 166) it will be
found in the melody itself, in the same situation as in Walsingham,
and with the authority of all the old versions. Its appearance in the
accompaniments of other tunes would seem to favour the supposition
that in Walsingham and Crimson Velvet, where it occurs in the tune
itself, it may also be the invention of an arranger. But it would
be extremely difficult to account, on that hypothesis, for the fact that it
is found in all the versions, apparently without exception, of these two
tunes ; not only because the device itself is extremely rare, but also
because in this branch of composition, in which the subject was common
property, originality of treatment was the first condition of suc-
cess.— ED.]
The words are the first stanza of a ballad in the Pepysian Collection,
which is probably referred to by Nashe in Have with you to Saffron
Walden.
The tune is frequently mentioned by writers of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, and from several of these references we find that
it was commonly taught to singing birds. In Fletcher's Honest Man's
Fortune, one of the servants says : — " When he brings in a prize, unlesse
from Ipswich, was carried to Chelsea, and In the Bodleian Library is a small quarto
there burnt in the presence of commissioners ; volume, apparently in the handwriting of
who, we trust, did not burn the jewels and the Philip, Earl of Arundel (eldest son of the Duke
finery." — Percy's Reliques. of Norfolk, who suffered in Elizabeth's time),
In The Weakest goes to the Wall, 1600, the containing A Lament for Walsingham. It is
scene being laid in Burgundy, the following in the ballad style, and the two last stanzas are
lines are given : — as follows : —
" King Richard's gone to Walsingham, to the " Weep, weep, O Walsingham !
Holy Land, Whose days are nights ;
To kill Turk and Saracen, that the truth do Blessings turn'd to blasphemies —
withstand ; Holy deeds to despites.
Christ his cross be his good speed, Christ his Sin is where Our Lady sat,
foes to quell, Heaven turned is to hell ;
Send him help in time of need, and to come Satan sits where Our Lord did sway :
home well." Walsingham, Oh, farewell ! "
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 71
it be Cockles, or Callis sand to secure with, Tie renounce my five mark
a year, and all the hidden art I have in carving, to teach young Birds to
whistle Walsingham'' And in Dryden's Limberham : —
" Aldo. — And her Father, the famous Cobler, who taught Walsingham to the
Blackbirds."
Also in Don Quixote, translated by J. Phillips, 1687, p. 278: — "An
infinite number of little birds, with painted wings of various colours,
hopping from branch to branch, all naturally singing Walsingham, and
whistling John, come kiss me now''
One of the Psalmes and Songs of Sion, turned into the language, and
set to the tunes of a strange land, 1642, is to the tune of Walsingham ;
and Osborne, in his Traditional Memoirs on the Reigns of Elizabeth and
James, 1653, speaking of the Earl of Salisbury, says : —
" Many a hornpipe he tuned to his Phillis,
And sweetly sung Walsingham to's Amaryllis."
Two of the ballads made to be sung to it are reprinted in Percy's
Reliques of Ancient Poetry ; the one beginning, " Gentle herdsman, tell
to me " ; the other " As ye came from the Holy Land." The last will
also be found in Deloney's Garland of Goodwill, reprinted by the Percy
Society.
A verse of " hs you came from Walsingham " is quoted in The Knight
of the Burning Pestle, and in Hans Beerpot, his invisible Comedy, 4to,
1618.
MY LITTLE PRETTY ONE.
B.M. Addl. MSS., 4,900.
[*]
My ly - tell pre - ty one, my pre
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& gen - tie as . . can . . be : With a beck she comse a-non.with a wincke she
72
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
wil be gon, No doubt she is a-lone of all that ev - er I see,
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HOW CAN THE TREE.
W. Barley's New Booke of Tabliture, 1596 ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iv. 23 ;
Giles Earle's Songbook, 1626, B.M. Addl. MSS., 24,665.
[*]
How can the tree but waste and wi - ther a - way,
— l-q
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
73
death I may it call, that feeles each paine & knowes noe joye at all.
What foodies beast can live long in good plight ?
or what's the life, where sences there be none ?
Or what availeth eyes without their sight?
or else a tongue to him that is alone ?
Is this, &c.
Whereto serve eares if that there be noe sound ?
or such a head where noe devise doth growe,
But all of plaints, since sorrowe is the ground
whereby the heart doth pine in deadlie woe ?
Is this, &c.
[Ill Deloney's Strange Histories, the seventh canto of a long ballad
upon the life and death of King Edward II. is directed to be sung to
the tune of " How can the tree/' — ED.]
SICK, SICK.
I.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iv. 23 ; Anthony Holborne's Cittharn Schcole,
1597.
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74
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
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II.
Dorothy Welde's Lute Book.
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In the British Museum (Cotton MSS., Vespasian A 25) is a ballad
in a handwriting of about the last quarter of the sixteenth century,
which may perhaps be the original to which these tunes belong. It
begins as follows : —
"It befell at martynmas
when wether waxed colde,
captaine care said to his men,
we muste go take a holde.
Syck, sicke and totowe sick
and sicke and like to die,
the sikest nyghte that ever
abode,
god lord have mercy on me.
Haille master and wether you will
and wether ye like it best,
to the castle of crecynbroghe,
and there we will take our reste.
Syck, sicke, &c.
I know wher is a gay castle
is build of lyme and stone,
within is a gay ladie,
her lord is ryd from hom.
Syck, sicke, &c.'5
The whole has been printed by Ritson in his Ancient Songs, with ;m
account of the historical fact upon which it is founded, and which
occurred in 1571. It is a gloomy story of the massacre of a lady and
her children and household, in all thirty-seven persons, by the Captain
Care, or Ker, named in the first stanza.
In Much Ado about Nothing, Hero says, "Why, how now ! do you
speak in the sick tune ? " and Beatrice answers, " I am out of all other
tune, methinks." In Nashe's Summers Last Will and Testament,
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
75
Harvest says, " My mates and fellows, sing no more Merry, merry, but
weep out a lamentable Hooky, hooky, and let your sickles cry —
Sick, sick, and very sick,
And sick and for the time ;
For Harvest, your master, is
Abus'd without reason or rhyme."
On 24th March, 1578, Richard Jones had licensed to him "a ballad
intituled Sick, sick, &c.," and on the following ipth June, "A new songe,
intituled —
Sick, sick in grave I would I were,
For grief to see this wicked world, that will not mend, I fear."
This was probably a moralization of the former.
In the Harleian Miscellany, 4to, 10,272, is " A. new ballad, declaring
the dangerous shooting of the gun at the court (1578), to the tune of
Sicke and sicke"
THERE WERE THREE RAVENS.
Melismata, 1611. x
[*]
There were three Ravens sat on a tree, Downe, a downe, hay
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1 Ritson, in his Ancient Songs, remarks :
' ' It will be obvious that this ballad is much
older, not only than the date of that book,
but than most of the other pieces contained in
it." It is nevertheless still so popular in some
parts of the country that I have been favoured
with a variety of copies of it, written down
from memory; and all differing in some
respects, both as to words and tune, but with
sufficient resemblance to prove a similar origin.
76
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
downe ; . . . There were three Ravens sat on a tree, they were as
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The one of them said to his mate,
Where shall we our breakefast take ?
Downe in yonder greene field,
There lies a knight slain under his shield.
His hounds they lie downe at his feete,
So well they their master keepe.
His haukes they fiie so eagerly,
There's no fowle dare him come nie.
Downe there comes a fallow doe,
As great with yong as she might goe.
She lift up his bloudy hed,
And kist his wounds that were so red.
She got him up upon her back.e,
And carried him to earthen lake.
She buried him before the prime,
She was dead herself ere even-song
time.
God send every gentleman
Such haukes, such hounds, and such a
leman.
FORTUNE.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; W. Corkine's Instruction Book for the Lute, 1610 ;
Dorothy Welde's Lute Book ; William Ballet's Lute Book; Dallis' Pupil's Lute Book;
University Lib. Camb. Lute MSS. ; Secret des Muses, 1615; Bellerophon, 1622;
Nederlandtsche Gedenck-clanck, 1626 ; Stichtelycke Rymen, 1652.
[*]
For - tune my foe,
why dost thou frown on me?
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
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A ballad " Of one complaining of the mutability of Fortune " was
licensed to John Charlewood to print in i$6$-6. — (See Collier's Ex. Reg,
Stat. Comp., p. 139). A black-lett'er copy of " A sweet sonnet, wherein
the lover exclaimeth against Fortune for the loss of his ladyes favour,
almost past hope to get again, and in the end receives a comfortable
answer, and attains his desire, as may here appear : to the tune of
Fortune my Foe" is in the Bagford Collection (643 m., British Museum),
but it is probably not the original ballad. Since, however, nothing
earlier appears with this title, the first stanza is given above with
the tune. Another copy is in the Roxburghe Collection (B.M.),
vol. iii. 192.
"Fortune my Foe" is alluded to by Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of
Windsor, act ii., sc. 3 ; and the old ballad of " Titus Andronicus," upon
which the play of the same name, ascribed to Shakespeare, was founded,
was sung to the tune. A copy of that ballad is in the Roxburghe
Collection, i. 392, and is reprinted in Percy's Reliques.
Ben Jonson alludes to " Fortune my Foe " in The Case is Altered, and in
his masque, The Gipsies Metamorphosed ; Beaumont and Fletcher, in The
Custom of the Country, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, and The Wild-
goose Chase ; Lilly gives the first verse in his Maydes Metamorphosis,
1600 ; Chettle mentions the tune in Kind-Hart's Dreame, 1592 ; Burton,
in his Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 ; Shirley, in The Grateful Servant,
1630 ; Brome, in his Antipodes, 1638. See also Lodge's Rosalind, 1590 ;
Lingua^ 1607 ; Every Woman in her Humour, 1609 ; The Wido^v's Tears,
78 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
1612 ; Henry Hutton's Follie's Anatomic, 1619 ; The T^vo Merry Milk-
maids•, 1620 ; Vox Borealis, 1641 ; The Rump, or Mirror of the Times,
1660 ; Toms Essence, 1677, &c. In Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1682, is
a parody on " Fortune my Foe," beginning, " Satan my foe, full of
iniquity," with which the tune is there printed.
One reason for the great popularity of this air is that the metrical
lamentations of extraordinary criminals were usually chanted to it.
Rowley alludes to this in his Noble Soldier, 1634 : —
" The King ! shall I be bitter 'gainst the King ?
I shall have scurvy ballads made of me,
Sung to the hanging tune /"
And in " The Penitent Traytor : the humble petition of a Devonshire
gentleman, who was condemned for treason, and executed for the same,
anno 1641," in Loyal Songs ivritten against the Rump Parliament, ed.
1662, p. 53, the last verse but two runs thus : —
" How could I bless thee, couldst thou take away
My life and infamy both in one day ?
But this in ballads will survive I know,
Sung to that preaching tune, Fortune ?ny Foe"
Indeed, its mournful character was so thoroughly established that
none but the most lugubrious matter seems ever to have been sung to it.
Deloney's ballad, " The Death of King John " (in his Strange Histories,
1607), and "The most cruel murder of Edward V., and his brother the
Duke of York, in the Tower, by their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester "
(reprinted in Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 13, ed. 1810), are to this tune; as
are also those in the first volume of the Roxburghe Collection, at
pages 136, 182, 376, 392, 486, 487, 488, and 490; all of which are either
narratives of grievous misfortune, or histories of murder and last dying
speeches. Besides these, there are many others all of the same character,
but too numerous to mention.
Two, however, require notice, because the tune is often referred to
under their names — Dr. Faustus and Aim not too high. The first,
according to the title of the ballad, is " The Judgment of God shewed
upon Dr. John Faustus : tune, Fortune my Foe'' A copy is in the
Bagford Collection. It is illustrated by two woodcuts at the top : one
representing Dr. Faustus signing the contract with the devil ; the other
showing him standing in a magic circle, with a wand in his left hand,
and a sword with flame running up it in his right: a little devil is seated
on his right arm. Richard Jones had a licence to print the ballad " of
the life and deathe of Dr, Faustus, the great cungerer," on the 28th Feb.,
1588-9
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
79
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 434, is " Youth's warning piece," &c.,
"to the tune of Dr. Faustits" ; printed for A. K., 1636. And in Dr. Wild's
her Boreale, 1671, "The recantation of a penitent Proteus," &c., to the
tune of Dr. Faustus.
The other name is derived from —
"An excellent song, wherein you shall finde
Great consolation for a troubled minde,"
to the tune of Fortune my Foe, commencing thus : —
" Ayme not too hie in things above thy reach ;
Be not too foolish in thine owne conceit ;
As thou hast wit and worldly wealth at will,
So give Him thanks that shall encrease it still," &c.
This ballad is also in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 106, printed by the
"Assignes of Thomas Symcocke"; and, in the same, others to the tune
of Aim not too high will be found, viz., in vol. i., at pages 70, 78, 82, 106,
132, and 482 ; in vol. ii., at pages 128, 130, 189, 202, 283, 482, and 562, &c.
In the Douce Collection there is a ballad of " The manner of the
King's'' (Charles the First's) " Trial at Westminster Hall," &c.: " the tune
is Aim not too high"
ALL IN A GARDEN GREEN.
I.
William Ballet's Lute Book, Trin. Coll. Dublin ; Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
[*]
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
They long had loved y - fere, and no lone - et than tin - ly
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Quoth he, " Most lovely maid,
My troth shall aye endure ;
And be not thou afraid,
But rest thee still secure,
That I will love thee long
As life in me shall last ;
Now I am strong and young,
And when my youth is past," &c.
[The above words were taken from "a MS. in the possession of the
late Mr. Payne Collier " ; but as there are in all thirteen stanzas, and as
each repetition of the tune requires two, it may be doubted whether they
were not intended for some other melody, perhaps for the one given on
the opposite page. — ED.]
In A Handefull of Pleasant Delites, 1 584, there is " An excellent Song
of an outcast Lover, to All in a Garden green," containing 24 stanzas,
which begins thus : —
" My fancie did I fire,
in faithful forme and frame :
In hope ther shuld no blustring blast,
have power to move the same.
And as the gods do know,
and world can witnesse beare :
I never served other saint,
nor Idoll other where "
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
8l
II.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.1
WILLIAM BYRD.
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the words already given, or a new stanza of six. — ED.]
1 The setting by Byrd here given contains at page 70. The closes, at end of bars 7
(bars 10 and n) examples of the introduction and n and beginning of bars 8 and 12, are
of a major third in a minor scale, before the probably deliberate alterations of the old
close, referred to in a note upon Walsingham tune.
82
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
LIGHT O' LOVE.
W. Ballet's Lute Book, Trin. Coll. Dublin ; Musictfs Delight on the Cithren, 1666,
(much altered) ;' the Leyden Lute MS., there called "Volte Angloise."
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The words of the original song being still undiscovered, a few stanzas
are here given from a ballad by Leonard Gybson, printed in 1570, a
copy of which was in the possession of Mr. George Daniel, and which
has also been published in the late Mr. Frederick Huth's Ancient Ballads
and Broadsides,
1 In the volume of transcripts made by
Sir John Hawkins there is a tune entitled
Fair Maiit, are you walking, the first eight
bars of which are identical with this later
version of Light d* Love- and in the Music
School, Oxford, one of the manuscripts pre-
sented by Bishop Fell, with a date 1620, has
Light o' Love under the name of Sicke and
sicke and very sicke ; but this must be a
mistake, as that ballad could not be sung to it.
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 83
A VERY PROPER DITTIE :
To the Tune of " Lightie Love."
\jLeave Lightie love, Ladies, for fear e ofyll name,
And true love embrace ye, to purchase your Fame.]
(i)
By force I am fixed my fancie to write,
Ingratitude willeth mee not to refraine :
Then blame mee not, Ladies, although I indite
What lighty love now amongst you doth raigne.
Your traces in places, with outward allurements,
Dothe moove my endevour to be the more playne :
Your nicyngs and tycings, with sundrie procurements,
To publish your lightie love doth mee constraine,
(4)
I speake not for spite, ne do I disdayne
Your beautie, fayre ladies, in any respect :
But one's ingratitude doth mee constrayne,
As childe hurt with fire, the same to neglect ;
For prooving in lovyng, I finde by good trial!,
When beautie had brought mee unto her becke,
She staying, not waying, but made a denial!,
And shewyng her lightie love, gave mee the checke.
Thus fraude for friendship did lodge in her breast ;
Suche are most women, that, when they espie
Their lovers inflamed with sorowes opprest,
They stande then with Cupid against their replie ;
They taunte and they vaunte ; they smile when they vew
How Cupid had caught them under his trayne ;
But warned, discerned the proofe is most true
That lightie love, Ladies, amongst you doth reigne/'
(12)
To trust women's wordes in any respect,
The danger by mee right well it is scene,
And love and his lawes who would not neglect,
The tryall wherof most peryllous beene ?
Pretendyng the endyng if I have offended,
I crave of you, Ladies, an answere againe ;
Amende, and what's said shall soone be amended,
If case that your lightie love no longer do rayne.
Shakespeare alludes twice to the tune : in The Two Gentlemen of
Verona, act i., sc. 2, and in Much Ado about Nothing, act in., sc. 4 ;
it is quoted also by Fletcher in the Two Noble Kinsmen.
G 2
84
THE EARLIER BALLADS
In A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions, 1578, is a ballad, to the
tune of Attend thee, go play thee,1 which begins with the line, " Not Light
o' Love, lady." " The Banishment of Lord Maltravers and Sir Thomas
Gurney," in Deloney's Strange Histories, &c., 1607, and " A song of the
wooing of Queen Catherine by Owen Tudor, a young gentleman of Wales,"
are both to the tune of Light o1 Love. — (See Old Ballads, 1727, iii. 32 ;
or Evans, ii. 356.)
CALINO CASTURAME, OR COLLEEN OGE ASTORE.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS. Dd. iv. 23. ;
Wm. Ballet's Lute Book.
To Calen o Custure me, sung at everie line's end."
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When as I view .your com -ly grace, Ca - le-no . . Cus-tu - re me : Your
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Your azured veines much like the skies,
Your silver teeth, your christall eies.
Your corall lips, your crimson cheekes,
That Gods and men both love and leekes.
Whose fame by pen for to descrive.
doth passe ech wight that is alive ;
Then how dare I with boldened face,
presume to crave or wish your grace.
And thus amazed as I stand,
not feeling sense nor moving hand,
My soule with silence moving sense,
doth wish of God with reverence,
Long life and vertue you possesse,
to match those gifts of worthinesse ;
And love, and pitie may be spide,
to be your chief and onely guide.
1 "Attend thee, go play thee," is a song in the interlude of The Marriage of Wit and
A Handefutt of Pleasant Delites, 1584, and is Wisdom. See Shakespeare Society's Reprint,
also the tune of one sung by Wantonness in p. 20.
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 85
[The words here given are from A Handeful I of Pleasant D elites, 1584.
There is an allusion to the tune in Shakespeare's Henry F., where
(act iv., sc. 4), Pistol addresses the French Soldier : — " Quality ! Calen o
custure me."
Sir Robert Stewart, in his article upon Irish Music in Grove's Dic-
tionary (vol. ii. p. 1 8), remarks that, notwithstanding its Irish name,
Calino Casturatrte "seems deficient in the characteristic features of Irish
melody " ; and the same is true, he thinks, of the Irish Ho-hoane and the
Irish Dumpe, which are also contained in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
The two latter appear in the MS., as follows : —
[Slow.]
THE IRISH HO-HOANE.
[Slow.]
THE IRISH DUMPE.
Sir Robert Stewart's suspicion, which seems fully justified by all that
we know of Irish music, deprives these tunes of a certain interest, derived
from their antiquity, which would otherwise have belonged to them ; for
the MiS. in which they appear is at least a hundred years older than the
first publication of Irish tunes in 1720. — ED.]
86
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
THE HUNT IS UP.
Jane Pickering's Lute Book, 1615, B.M. Eg. MSS., 2,046; University Lib. Camb. Lute
MSS., Dd. iv. 23; the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book; Lady Neville's Virginal Book;
Mustek's Delight on the Cithern, 1666 ; in Anthony Holborne's Cithern Schoole(\^\
and Sir John Hawkins' transcripts, under the name of " Pescod time ; " and in the
Leyden Lute MS., under the name of " Soet Olivier."
[*]
The hunt is up, the hunt is up, and it is well nigh day : . . . And
Harry our King is gone hunt-ing to bring his deer to bay.
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The east is bright with morning light,
And darkness it is fled,
And the merie home wakes up the morne
To leave his idle bed.
The horses snort to be at the sport,
The dogges are running free,
The woddes rejoyce at the mery noise
Of hey tantara tee ree !
The sunne is glad to see us clad
All in our lustie greene,
And smiles in the skye as he riseth hye,
To see and to be scene.
Awake, all men, I say agen,
Be mery as you maye,
For Harry our Kinge is gone hunting,
To bring his deere to baye.
[I have not been able to find any early copy of the tune ; and, con-
sidering the sometimes wide differences between the various versions
which were current after the year 1600, I fear it cannot be assumed
with any certainty that the specimen given above (which is from Jane
Pickering's Lute Book) perfectly represents it. It seems to have been
almost, if not quite, the most popular of the old ballad tunes, and popu-
larity would be almost sure to bring about alterations in a tune in which
the greater part of each section lies upon one harmony.
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 87
The composition with this name (and which also reappears as Pescod
time} in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book does not contain the tune. It is
a kind of fantasia made upon it, as also is another composition in the
same book called The King's Hunt. This was a common practice with
composers for the virginals and lute when they were dealing with tunes
which had a wide popularity. — ED.]
This tune was in vogue at least as early as 1537, when information
was sent to the Council against one John Hogon, who had offended
against the proclamation of 1533, by singing a political song to it, " with
a crowd 6*r a fyddyll," — (Collier's Shakespeare, i. p. cclxxxviii.)
The original ba-llad was probably the one alluded to by Puttenharn,
in speaking of " one Gray " (the William Gray, perhaps, who wrote a
ballad on the downfall of Thomas, Lord Cromwell, in 1540, to which
there are several rejoinders in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries),
where he says, " What good estimation did he grow unto with the
same King Henry, and afterwards with the Duke of Somerset, Protectour,
for making ceftaine merry ballades, whereof one chiefly was, The hunte
is up, the hunte is up" It is not impossible that the words given above
with the tune (and which were taken from a MS. in the possession of
Mr. Collier), may to some extent represent those of Gray's ballad.
They were apparently of the same date, from the mention of the King's
name, and the measure is the same as Hogon's parody. Later, in 1565,
William Pickering paid ^d. for a licence to print " a ballett intituled The
Hunte ys up," &c. — (See Registers of Stationers' Company, p. 129.)
Ritson, in his " Ancient Songs," quotes a verse of another song in the
same measure, and therefore probably sung to the same tune, which may
also be found in Merry Drollery Complete, 1661, and in the New Academy
of Complements, 1649 and 1713.
Any song intended to arouse in the morning — even a love-song — was
formerly called a hunfs-up. Shakespeare so employs it in Romeo and
Juliet (act iii., sc. 5) ; and the name was of course derived from a tune or
song employed by early hunters. Butler, in his Principles of Musik,
1636, defines a hunfs-up as " morning music " ; and Cotgrave defines
" Resveil " as a hunfs-up, or morning song for a new-married wife. In
Barn field's Affectionate Shepherd, 1594: —
" And every morn by dawning of the day,
When Phoebus riseth with a blushing face,
Silvan us chapel clerks shall chaunt a lay,
And play thee hunfs-up in thy resting place.
My cot thy chamber, my bosom thy bed.
Shall be appointed for thy sleepy head."
88
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Again, in Wits Bedlam, 1617 : —
" Maurus, last morne, at's mistress' window plaid
An hunt's-up on his lute," &c.
In Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas (act iii., sc. 2) : —
" Now if my man be trusty,
My spiteful dame, I'll pipe you such a Hunt's-up
Shall make you dance."
And in The Four Prentices of London (Dodsley, vi. p. 415) : —
" I love no chamber-musick, but a drum
To give an hunt's-up."
The religious parody of The Hunt is up, which was written by John
Thorne, has been printed by Mr. Halliwell, at the end of the moral play
of Wit and Science, together with other curious songs from the same
manuscript (Addl. MSS., No. 15,233, Brit. Mus.). There are seventeen
verses ; the first is as follows : —
" The hunt ys up, the hunt ys up,
Loe ! it is allmost daye ;
For Christ our Kyng is cum a huntyng,
And browght his deare to staye," &c. ;
but a more lively performance is contained in " Ane compendious booke
of Godly and Spirituall Songs . . . with sundrie . . . ballates changed
out of prophaine Sanges," &c., printed by Andro Hart in Edinburgh in
1621. The writer is very bitter against the Pope, who, he says, never
ceased, " under dispence, to get our pence," and who sold " remission of
sins in auld sheep skins " ; and compares him to the fox of the hunt.
The original edition of that book was printed in 1590.
A tune called The Queene's Majesties new Hunt is up, is mentioned
in Anthony Munday's Banquet of Dainty e Conceits, 1588, and the song he
gives to be sung to it, headed " Women are strongest, but truth over-
cometh all things," is in the same measure as the old Hunt is tip.
The tune, which is here given, is evidently only a variant of the other : —
W. Barley's New Book of Tablittire, 1596 ; Robinson's New Citharen Lessons, 1609.
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In 1584 (Aug. 6th), a licence was granted to R. Jones for a ballad of
" O sweete Olyver, Leave me not behind the " ; and Prof. Land found in
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 89
the Leyden Lute Book1 a version of The Hunt is up (but in quadruple
measure), there called Soet Olivier. From this we may suppose that the
ballad, part of which is sung by Touchstone in Shakespeare's As you like
it, was given to this tune, and that the tune was sometimes known by its
name.
PEASCOD TIME.
By the end of the sixteenth century the tune had become known also
by the name of Pescod time (peas-cod time, when the field-peas are
gathered), from a ballad sung to it, of which the words may be found in
England's Helicon, 1600 (or reprint of 1812, p. 206), and in Evans* Old
Ballads. The first stanza is as follows : —
"In Peas-cod time when hound to horn
Gives ear till buck be killed ;
And little lads with pipes of corn
Sit keeping beasts afield."
Under this title it was appropriated to two very important and
popular ballads — The Lady's Fall and Chevy Chase.
The '•'Lamentable Ballad of the Ladys Fall, to the tune of In Pescod
time" will be found in the Douce, Pepys, and Bagford Collections, and
has been reprinted by Percy and Ritson. It commences thus : —
" Mark well my heavy dolefull tale,
You loyal lovers all ;
And needfully bear in your breast
A gallant lady's fall."
Owing to its great popularity, The Lady's Fall next gave its name to
the tune, and among the many ballads directed to be sung to it under
this name are The Bride's Burial, and The Lady Isabella's Tragedy, both
in Percy's Reliques : The Life and Death of Queen Elizabeth, in The Crown
Garland of Golden Roses, 1612 (p. 39 of the reprint), and in Evans' Old
Ballads, iii. 171 : The Wandering Jew, or the Shoemaker of Jerusalem,
who lived when our Saviour Christ was crucified, and appointed to hve
until His coming again ; two copies in the British Museum, and one in
Mr. Halliwell's Collection ; also reprinted by Washborne. This last has
the burden, " Repent, therefore, O England," and is, perhaps, the ballad
by Deloney to which Nashe refers in Have with you to Saffron- Walden.
The Cruel Black, (Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 232,) was also to be sung
to it ; and in a collection printed in 1642, a copy of which is in
1 A Dutch collection of songs and dances, Vereeneging voor Noord-Nederlands Muzick-
set for the lute, made in the early part of the fischirdens")
seventeenth century.— (See " Tijdsehrift der
90 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Wood's Library, Oxford, is " A Carol for Twelfth Day, to the tune of
The Lady's Fall" which begins : —
" Mark well my heavy doleful tale,
For Twelfth Day now is come,
And now I must no longer stay,
And say no word but mum."
There is also to this tune, A Warning for Maidens, or Young Bateman,
in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 501. It begins "You dainty dames so
finely framed." And You dainty dames is sometimes quoted as a tune ;
also Bateman, as in a ballad entitled " A Warning for Married Women,
to a West-country tune called The Fair Maid of Bristol, or Bateman, or
John True'' — (Roxburghe, i. 502.)
To this last ballad there are two references in " Round about our Coal
Fire, or Christmas Entertainments" (4th edit, 1734). "The forsaking of
their first true love may bring the ballad of Bateman before them, where
they may plainly see in the picture that the devil flies away with such
false wretches " (p. 50). " There is a melancholy narrative in the ballad
of Bateman, expressing the horrible circumstances of a lady being carried
away by the ghost of her true love, who had hanged himself for her
inconstancy. Read the ballad and tremble ! " (p. 52.)
CHEVY CHASE.
Much has been written on the subject of Chevy Chase, which all the
earlier printed copies direct to be sung to the tune of Pescod time ; but as
both the ballads are printed in Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry (and in
many other Collections), it may be sufficient here to refer the reader to
that work, and to The British Bibliographer (iv. 97). The latter contains
an account of Richard Sheal, the minstrel to whom we are indebted for
the preservation of the more ancient ballad, and of his productions. The
manuscript containing them is in the Ashmolean Library, Oxford
(No. 48, 4to).
The ballad of Chevy Chase, in Latin rhymes, by Henry Bold, will be
found in Dryden's Miscellany Poems, ii. 288. The translation was made
at the request of Dr. Compton, Bishop of London.
. Bishop Corbet, in his Journey into Fraiince, speaks of having sung
Chevy Chase in his youth ; the antiquated beau in Davenant's play of
The Wits also prides himself on being able to sing it ; and in Wit's
Interpreter, 1617, a man, enumerating the good qualities of his wife, cites,
after the beauties of her mind and her patience, "her curious voice,
wherewith she useth to sing Chevy Chase'' From these, and many similar
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 9!
allusions, it is evident that it was much sung in the seventeenth century,
despite its length.
To the tune of Chevy Chase were to be sung " The King and the
Bishop" (Roxburghe, iii. 170); " Strange and true newes of an Ocean of
Flies dropping out a cloud, upon the town of Bodnam in Cornwall,"
1647 (see King's Pamphlets, B.M., vol. v., and VJ r\g\tfs Political Ballads ;
and "The Fire on London Bridge," which is to be found in Merry
Drollery complete, 1670, Pills to purge Melancholy, ii. 6, 1707, and
Rimbault's Little Book of Songs and Ballads, I2mo, 185 1 ). Dr. Rimbault
quotes other copies of the ballad, and especially one in the Pepys
Collection (ii. 146), where The Lady's Fall is given as the name of the
tune.
Early in the eighteenth century, in D'Urfey's Pills to purge Melancholy,
1707, in The Beggars' Opera, 1728, Trick for Trick, 1735, and in other
ballad operas, appeared a tune with the name of Chevy Chase, which. is
as follows : —
"BL3 fi * .
/TV ' a ' '~'~
~P '
— 1 — ~j*~~3 — *~
~? — r r
f
p • — P—
— P—
\\) ft ^ .
j L J^
J *
i 1. * '
-*-
1-1 1
k-l
But this tune was already popular under the name of When Flying
Fame (from a ballad still undiscovered), to which were directed to be
sung, amongst others : —
"A lamentable song of the Death of King Lear and his three
Daughters : to the tune of When Flying Fame'' — (See Percy's Reliques,
series i., book 2.)
"A mournefull dittie on the Death of Faire Rosamond-: tune of
Flying Fame" ': beginning, " When as King Henry rul'd this land"; and
quoted in Rowley's A Match at Midnight. — (See Strange Histories, 1607 ;
The Garland of Goodwill; and Percy, series ii., book 2.)
" King Alfred and the Shepherd's Wife : to the tune of Flying Fame''
— (See Old Ballads, 1727, i. 43 ; Pills to purge Melancholy, 1719, v. 289 ;
and Evans' Old Ballads, 1810, ii. n.)
" The Union of the Red Rose and the White, by a marriage between
King Henry VII. and Elizabeth Plantagenet, daughter of Edward IV. :
to the tune of When Flying Fame'' — (See Crown Garland, 1612, and
Evans, iii. 35.)
" The Battle of Agincourt, between the Englishmen and the French-
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
men : tune, Flying Fame ; " commencing, " A council grave our King
did hold." — (See Crown Garland, 1659, and Evans, ii. 351.)
" The noble acts of Arthur of the Round Table, and of Sir Launcelot
du Lake: tune of Flying Fame" — (See The Garland of Goodwill, 1678,
and Percy, series i., book 2.) The first line of this ballad ("When Arthur
first in court began") is sung by Falstaff in Part II. of Shakespeare's
King Henry IV.; also in Marston's The Malcontent, 1604, and in
Beaumont and Fletcher's The Little French Lawyer.
Another tune to the last of these ballads was found by Dr. Rimbault,
written upon the fly-leaf of a book of lessons for the virginals.
3i
While D'Urfey and the compilers of the ballad operas were giving
the tune of When Flying Fame as proper to Chevy Chase, the broadsides
of that ballad, which were then printed with music, gave, another tune,
more generally known as The Two Children in the Wood : —
£3
:£
^
and which appears in The Beggars Opera, The Jovial Crezv, The Lottery,
and An Old Man taught Wisdom (all ballad operas), under that name, or
rather as Now ponder well, which are the first words of the Children
ballad. The original ballad of The Two Children in the Wood is probably
the one entered upon the Stationers' Registers, Oct. 15th, 1595, by
Thomas Millington, "The Norfolk Gentleman, his last Will and
Testament, and howe he commytted the keeping of his children to his
owne brother, whoe delte moste wickedly with them, and howe God
plagued him for it." This entry agrees, almost verbatim, with the title
of the ballad in the Pepys Collection (i. 518), but which is of later date.
Copies will also be found in the Roxburghe (i. 284) and other Collections ;
in Old Ballads, 1726, i. 222 ; and in Percy's Reliques, series iii., book ii.
The copy in the Pepys Collection directs it to be sung to the tune of
Rogero.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
93
JOHN DORY.1
[There is unfortunately no known version of this famous old tune
earlier than 1600, about which date there were current two, both of
which have come down to us. They bear certain marks of antiquity,
but as they are thrown into round or canon form, and moreover differ
from each other, we cannot be sure that either composer has given the
tune as he received it.
The first is the version of Ravenscroft 2 (given as a canon for three
voices in Deuteromelia, 1609), which, stripped of repetitions and obviously
extraneous matter, seems to be as follows : —
/K (? J ^~
J J ^ [:
-f J J 5-
p i p — ,« r* p
laz 4 *
As it
fell on a
ho - ly day &
d HT
up - on a ho - ly
ZL io •
Fft 23
r r r
r J^ / J -
EE J— ^— ^=1
tide
a ; John Do - ry bought him an am - bling nag to
=E — r-f-p-
-f^-1 — i 1
3 1 — I 1-
Pa
ris for to
ride
And when John Dory to Paris was come,
a little before the gate a ;
John Dory was fitted, the porter was witted,
to let him in thereat a.
The first man that John Dory did meet,
was good King John of France a :
John Dory could well of his courtesie,
but fell down in a trance a.
A pardon, a pardon, my liege and my king,
for my merie men and me a :
And all the Churles in merie England
I'll bring them bound to thee a.
And Nicholl was then a Cornish man,
a little beside Bohyde a ;
And he mande forth a good blacke Barke,
with fiftie good oares on a side a.
to Pa • ris for to ride a.
Run up, my boy, into the maine top,
and looke what thou canst spie a ;
Who, ho ; who, ho ; a goodly ship I do see,
I trow it be John Dory a.
They hoist their sailes, both top and top,
the meisseine and all was tried a,
And every man stood to his lot,
whatever should betide a.
The roring Cannons then were plide,
and dub a dub went the drum a ;
The braying Trumpets lowde they cride,
to courage both all and some a.
The grapling hooks were brought at length,
the browne bill and the sword a :
John Dory at length, for all his strength,
was clapt fast under board a.
1 Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, 1602,
p. 135, says, "The prowess of one Nicholas,
son to a widow near Foy, is descanted upon in
an old three-man's song, namely, how he fought
bravely at sea, with one John Dory (a Geno-
wey, as I conjecture), set forth by John, the
French King, and after much blood shed on
both sides, took and slew him," &c. The
only King John of France died a prisoner in
England, in 1364.
2 Among the author's papers connected with
this work I found a note upon this version,
" 1609, but copied a Henry VIII. MS."
Unfortunately no reference was given, and I
have been unable to trace it. — ED.
94
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
The other is contained in. a round for four voices, printed by
J. Stafford Smith in Musica Antiqua. Ritson, who also gives it in his
English Songs, says, " Set, four parts in one, by Mr. Walker, before the
year 1600" ; Stafford Smith ascribes it to " Weelkes, 1609" ; but neither
say where it is to be found. The words are those of the well-known song
introduced into Gammer Gurtoris Needle , I575,1 where it is directed to be
sung to the tune of John Dory : —
-f
(GzTZtfw.)
— n 1 1 KTJ 1 ' •"
•
3?
— 2 ! I* — h
— H 1
— -j — J 1 pp^
f V
4-HHi m—*
SEE
4. 9 99
1
• J
I can - not e;it but
lyt - tyl meat,
7T =
1
— 1 H 1
ED
i
j i
* i j i
3
my sto - mack
ys not good :
5E
f fHH.9.
2 it
i?U
F b — &-
P F— - -
3
-A-
1 ^ 1^_ k — i 1
But sure I think that
\^ 1 — 9 r r~
I can drynke,
7f-
|
— F 1 f-
-f — r~h7"=> —
frn
1 I
1
Ssz
1 1 ( I
J
,
This perfect little composition clearly belongs to the best Elizabethan
time, and it is difficult to believe that it can contain intact a tune so
early in style as the original John Dory must have been. Ravenscroft's
ruder version is certainly nearer to the original, if, indeed, it be not the
original itself.
The still later version which is to be found in Playford's Musical
Companion, 1686, and in Pills to purge Melancholy, vol. i. 1698, seems
to be a combination of the two given above : —
1 In early dramas it was the custom to sing
old songs, or to play old tunes, both at the
commencement and at the end of the acts.
For instance, in Summer's Last Will and
Testament, which was performed in I593>
the direction to the actors in the Prologue is
to begin the play with " a fit of mirth and an
old song :" and at the end of the comedy,
Ram Alley, " strike up music ; let's have an
old song." In Peele's Arraignment of Paris,
Venus "singeth an old song, called The Wooing
of Co/man." In Marston's Antonio and
Afellida, Feliche sings "the old ballad, And
was not good king Solomon." To these in-
stances many others might be added ; indeed,
in the very play {Gammer Gurtori) in which
the words above referred to in the text are
found, at the end of the second act Diccon
says : —
" In the mean time, fellows, pipe up your
fiddles, I say take them
And let your friends have such mirth as ye can
make them."
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
95
Pa - ris
tide.
—ED.]
with others, in his Journey
Bishop Corbet thus mentions
into Fraunce : —
" But woe is me ! the guard, those men of warre,
Who but two weapons use, beef and the barre,
Begun to gripe me, knowing not the truth,
That I had sung John Dory in my youth ;
Or that I knew the day when I could chaunt
Chevy and Arthur or The Siege of Gaunt."
Bishop Earle, in his " Character of a Poor Fiddler," says, " Hunger is the
greatest pains he takes, except a broken head sometimes, and labouring
John Dory" In Fletcher's comedy, The Chances, Antonio, a humorous
old man, receives a wound, which he will only suffer to be dressed on
condition that the song of John Dory be sung the while, and he gives
i or. to the singers, It is again mentioned by Fletcher in The Knight of
the Burning Pestle ; by Brathwayte in Drunken Barnaby's Journal ; in
Vox Borealis, or the Northern Discoverie, 1641 ; in some verses on the
Duke of Buckingham, 1628 : —
"Then Viscount Slego telleth a long storie
Of the supplies, as if he sung Jo/in Doric" ;
and twice by Gayton, in his Pleasant Notes upon Don Quixote, 1654.
A parody was made upon it by Sir John Mennis, on the occasion of
Sir John Suckling's troop of horse, which he raised for Charles I., running
away in the Civil War, and it was much sung by the Parliamentarians at
the time. It will be found in Wit Restored, 1658, entitled " Upon Sir
John Suckling's most warlike preparation for the Scottish War," and
begins : —
" Sir John got him an ambling nag."
In the epilogue to a farce called the Empress of Morocco, 1674, intended to
ridicule a tragedy of the same name by Elk. Settle, and Sir W. Davenant's
alteration of Macbeth (which had been lately revived with the addition of
music by Mathew Locke), " the most renowned and melodious song of
96
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
John Dory was to be heard in the air, sung in parts by spirits, to raise
the expectation and charm the audience with thoughts sublime and
worthy of the heroic scene which follows." It is quoted in Folly in Print
1667 ; in Merry Drollery complete, 1670 ; and in many songs. Dryden
refers to it, as one of the most hackneyed in his time, in one of his
lampoons :—
" But Sunderland, Godolphin, Lory,
These will appear such chits in story,
'Twill turn all politics to jest,
To be repeated, like John Dory,
When fiddlers sing at feasts."
WHOOP, DO ME NO HARM, GOOD MAN.
The First Book of Ay res, by W. Corkine (1610) ; B.M. Addl. MSS., 30 486.
[*]
[Fast.]
•
i '
J
^
\Whoop,
do me no harm . .
-T- I m _ I
W
A
4 I '
I I
This is twice alluded to by Shakespeare, in act iv., sc. 3, of A Winters
Tale ; and by Ford, in act iii., sc. 3 of The Fancies Chaste and Noble,
where Secco, applying it to Morosa, sings, " Whoop ! do me no harm,
good woman"
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
97
In the Famous History of Friar Bacon there is a ballad to the tune
of " O do me no harme, good man." In the Pepys Collection, i. 152, is
" The golden age, or an age of plain dealing : to a pleasant new court
tune, or WJioope, doe me no harme, good man" ; and at p. 156, "The
honest age," &c., " to the tune of The golden age" At p. 384, " The
wiving age, to the tune of The golden age" At p. 400, " The Cooper of
Norfolk, to the tune of The wiving age" At p. 248, " A merry ballad
of a rich maid that had eighteen severall suitors of severall countries :
otherwise called The scornefull maid. To the tune of Hoop, doe me no
harme, good man" These ballads were printed by J[ohn] T[rundle] or
Henry Gosson.
In the second part of Westminster Drollery, 1672, is a ballad "Of
Johnny and Jinny," which seems to have been intended for the tune. It
commences : —
" The sweet pretty Jinny sate on a hill,
Where Johnny the swain her see,
He tun'd his quill, and sung to her still,
Whoop, Jinny^ cojne down to me."
HEART'S EASE.
I.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. ii. 11.
j _j
I I
98
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
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II.
Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
1 I I" I I I I J J J J -*- -^- • -- -
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
-\-
99
r^r
No words have as yet been identified with the first of the above
tunes. A song in the unpublished interlude of Misogonns^ (about 1560),
which is directed to be sung to the tune of Hearts ease, was probably
intended for the second. The first two stanzas are as follows : —
Singe care away, with sport and playe,
Pastime is all our pleasure ;
Yf well we fare, for nought we care,
In inearth consists our treasure.
Let lungis (lankies) lurke, and druges work,
We doe clefie their slaverye ;
He is but a foole, that goes to schole,
All we delight in braverye.
What doth 't availe farr hence to saile,
And lead our life in toylinge ;
Or to what end shoulde we here spende
Our dayes in urksome moylinge.
It is the best to live at rest
And tak 't as God doth send it ;
To haunt ech wake and mirth to make,
And with good fellowes spend it.
Shakespeare mentions Heart's ease in Romeo and Juliet, act iv.,
sc. 5 :—
Peter. — " Musicians, O musicians, Hearts-case, heart's-ease : O an you will have
me live, play Hearts-ease.
1st Mtts.—Why Hearts-ease?
pefer—Q musicians, because my heart itself plays My heart is full of woe :* O play
me some merry dump,3 to comfort me."
1 See The History of the English Dramatic
Poetry to the time of Shakespeare •, by J. Payne
Collier, London, 1831, vol. ii., p. 470.
2 This is the burden of "A pleasant new
Ballad of two Lovers : to a pleasant new
tune"; beginning —
Complain my lute, complain on him
That stays so long away ;
He promised to be here ere this,
But still unkind doth stay.
But now the proverb true I find,
Once out of sight then out of mind.
Hey, ho ! my heart is full of woe, &c.
It has been reprinted by Mr. Andrew Barton,
in the first volume of the Shakespeare Society's
Papers, 1844.
3 A dump was a slow dance.
H 2
100
THE EARLIER BALLADS
WHAT IF A DAY.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iv. 23 ; Robinson's Citharen Lessons, 1609 ;
Giles Earle's Song Book, 1626, B.M., Addl. MSS. 24,665 ; Friesche Lust-Hof, 1634 ;
Camphuysen's Stichtelycke Rymen, 1647 ; Skene MS. ; Forbes' Songs and Fancies,
1666 ; Sir John Hawkins' Transcripts, &c.
[*]
2. Cannot the chance of a night or an houre,crosse thee againe wth as ma - ny sad tor -
i. What if a day or a moneth or a year, crowne thy delights wth a thousand wish'd con -
^M^=j£^=
ij^iy — ^afc|zg^i ^SgJ-
-K-l-
m
--^
ment - ings, j 4. Wanton pleasures,do-tinge love, are but sha-dowes fly - inge
tent -ings. | 3. Fortune honoure, beautie youth,are but blos-soms dye - inge
^=^J
£=£TH^g^
6. None have power
5. All our joyes
of
an
but
lioure,
toyes,
their lives be
die thoughts de
^
f=F
reav
ceav
inge.
inge.
— ^_pmiij :
r r r '
^^ ^11
-^^
Th' earth's but a point to the world, and a man
is but a point to the earth's compared center :
Shall then a point of a point be soe vaine,
as to triumph in a sillie pointes adventure ?
All is hazard that wee have,
there is nothing bidinge ;
Daies of pleasure are like streames,
through faire meadowes glidinge.
All our joyes, &c.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
101
[These two stanzas are taken from Giles Earle's Song Book. They
are also to be found in two other contemporary MSS. in the British
Museum ; one of which (Addl., 6,704), a Commonplace-book made by
Richard Wigley, gives an additional stanza ; 1 and the other, (Lansdowne,
241,) the diary of John Sanderson from 1560 to 1610, (where the poem
occurs upon the same leaf as a record of 1592), is remarkable from the
fact that the first line there reads —
" What yf a daye or a night or an houre,"
which is the title of the tune in the Cambridge Lute Books, and is also
the beginning of a fifteenth century song in Ryman's Collection in the
Cambridge University Library, where the two first lines read —
" What yf a daye, or nyghte, or howre,
Crowne my desyres wythe every delyghte ? " 2
—ED.]
The first appearance of the song in print would seem to have been
at Edinburgh, in 1603, by way of finale to a play called Philotus. It
was afterwards printed as a broadside (Roxburghe Collection, i. 116 and
ii. 182,) and again in The Golden Garland of Princely Delights, 3rd edit,
1620 ; and in both these later versions it appears with three additional
stanzas.
1 This stanza is perfectly irrelevant, but as it
has never been printed I give it here : —
* ' Goe sillie note to the eares of my deare,
make thy selfe bleste, in her sweetest passions
languishe ;
Laye thee to sleepein the bedde of her harte,
geve her delighte though thy selfe be madde
with anguishe.
Then where thou arte think on me,
that from thee ame vanish'd ;
Saye once I had bine content,
thoughe that now ame banish'd.
Yet when stream es backe shall runne,
and tymes passed shall renewe ;
1 shall seaze her to love,
and in lovinge to be trewe." — ED.
2 These facts, and also the great superiority
of the older first line, point to a possible evolu-
tion from the earlier song ; but there are two
contemporary ascriptions of the poem to a
particular author. In Logonomia Anglica, by
Alexander Gil, 1619, it is thus referred to : —
" Ut in illo perbello cantico Tho. Campiani,
cujus mensuram, ut rectius agnoscas, exhibeo
cumnotis." And in An Houres Recreation in
MusickC) by Richard Allison, 1606, where it is
set to other music, in parts, " Thomas
Campion, M.D.," is printed at the end.
Mr. A. H. Bullen, relying upon these two
authorities, has included Allison's version in
his recently published edition of Campion's
poetical works, and has also printed the three
later additional stanzas in a note. It should
be mentioned that in all versions, except that
of Giles Earle, the second stanza, instead of
repeating the conclusion of the first, continues :
" Weale and woe, Tyme doth goe,
tyme is never turning ;
Secret fates guide our states,
both in mirthe and mourninge."
—En.
102
THE EARLIER BALLADS
[*]
LOTH TO DEPART.
I.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. ii. 11 ; the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
&$lr4=*=^-* J J4-£=3
r rr r rr
J iji ! J J-
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itey i i i- i J I J 1 ill N I i ill
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The words proper to this tune have not been discovered, but those of
the following example might be sung to it : —
II.
Deuteromelia, 1609.
-^ £2_
** — h
2=E
K
^ . *
Sing with thy mouth sing with . . thy heart,
-i — r
like faith - full friends sing loath to de - part
Though friends to - ge - ther may not al - wayes re - maine, yet
^t— J ' — [-:
.... 1
1 —
••
loath to de - part
sing once
a - game.
A Z^7/// /<? depart was the common term for a song sung or a tune played
on taking leave of friends. So in a Discourse on Marine Affairs (Harl.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
103
MSS., No. 1,34') we find : " Being again returned into his barge, after
that the trumpets have sounded a Loathe to departe, and the barge is
fallen off a fit and fair birth and distance from the ship-side, he is to be
saluted with so many guns, for an adieu, as the ship is able to give, pro-
vided that they be always of an odd number. "—(Quoted in a note to
Teonge's Diary, p. 5.) In Tarlton's News out of Purgatory (about 1589):
" And so, with a Loath to depart, they took their leaves " ; and in the old
play si Damon and Pithias, when Damon takes leave, saying, " Loth am
I to depart," he adds, " O Music, sound my doleful plaints when I am
gone away," and the regals play " a mourning song."
In Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at several Weapons, act ii., sc. 2,
Pompey makes his exit singing Loath to depart. In Middleton's The
Old Law, act iv., sc. i, "The old woman is loath to depart ; she never
sung other tune in her life." In the ballad of Arthur of Bradley, which
exists in black-letter, and in the Antidote to Melancholy, 1661, are the
following lines : —
" Then Will and his sweetheart
Did call for Loth to depart?
There is mention of it also in Chapman's Widoiv's Tears, 1612 ; Vox
Borealis, 1641 ; and many others.
[*]
O MISTRESS MINE.
I.
The First Booke of Consort Lessons, edited by T. Morley, 1599.
O Mis - tris mine where are you roming ? O Mis - tris mine where
-I r-, , I-
are you roming? O Mis - tris mine where are you roming
IO4
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
O stay and heare, your . . true loves com - ing that . .
I j I rz i^ i . i^ i
can sing both
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doth
know.
What is love ? 'tis not hereafter ;
Present mirth hath present laughter :
What's to come is still unsure.
In delay there lies no plentie,
Then come kisse me, sweet and twentie :
Youth's a stuffe will not endure.
The words are from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (folio edit., 1623),
act ii., sc. 3.
The Consort Lessons being for instruments, the book does not contain
words, but the double bars and marks of repetition in the upper part
(which is all that remains of the work) sufficiently indicate the disposition
of the song. — ED.
THE EARLIER BALLADS,
105
II.
[*]
n , _ J=4=
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The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
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— fj 1 -II- r ' — rF 1
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This version cannot be adapted to the song, one section of the tune
(contained in bars 5 and 6) having been omitted in the repetition.
Neither version perhaps quite represents the original, if the original
was a ballad tune ; but Morley's is, in all probability, the earlier of the
two.— ED.
io6
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[*]
WILLOW WILLOW.
B.M. Addl. MSS. 15,117 (circ. 1600).
The poore soule sate sigh - inge by a Sik - a - more tree, Singe
I I
r
IZ22:
wil - lo wil - lo wil - lo : with his hand in his bos - om £ his
I I I I I | , gj I I ' I I
X u ^ . ( -J * .
^ ^ <^
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heade up - on his knee, O wil - lo wil - lo wil - lo wil - lo, O
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wil -lo wil - lo wil- lo wil - lo, Shal be my gare - land. Singe
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all a greene wil - lo, wil - lo wil - lo wil - lo : Aye
i I i u ! i i i d
4^.^sU-^
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 107
be my gare - land.
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He syght in his singinge, and made a great moane, Sing, &c. ;
I am deade to all pleasure, my trewe love she is gone, &c.
The mute bird sate by hym was made tame by his moanes, Sing, &c. ;
the trewe teares fell from hym would have melted the stones, &c.
Come, all you forsaken, and mourne you with mee, Sing, &c. ;
who speakes of a false love, mynes falser than shee, &c.
Let love no more boast her, in pallas nor bower, Sing, &c. ;
it budds, but it blasteth, ere it be a flower, &c.
Thowe fair and more false, I dye with thy wounde, Sing, &c. ;
thowe hast lost the truest lover that goes upon the ground, £c.
Let nobody chyde her, her scornes I approve, Sing, &c. ;
she was borne to be false, and I to dye for love, &c.
Take this for my farewell and latest adiewe, Sing, &c. ;
write this on my toinbe, that in love I was trewe, &c.
These are the words given with the music. They differ from the
version in Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry ; and Shakespeare, in
making use of them in the fourth act of Othello, has made changes
which were necessary to suit them to a female character.
Another song with the burden —
" Willow, willow, willow ; sing all of green willow ;
Sing all of green willow, shall be my garland,"
will be found in A Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions (1578). It
commences thus : —
" My love, what misliking in me do you find,
Sing all of green willow ;
That on such a sudden you alter your mind ?
Sing willow, willow, willow.
What cause doth compel you so fickle to be,
Willow, willow, willow, willow ;
In heart which you plighted most loyal to me ?
Willow, willow, willow, willow."— Heliconia^ i. 32.
In Fletcher's The Two Noble Kinsmen, when the Jailer's daughter
went mad for love, " she sung nothing but Willow, willozv, willow " (act
iv., sc i). Also in Middleton's Blurt Master Constable :-
" Shall Camillo then sing willow, willow, willow."— Dyce, vol. i., p. 234.
io8
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[After the Restoration the words, somewhat altered, were again set
by Pelham Humfrey, His song, with his own bass, is here given from
Stafford Smith's Musica Antigua ; —
[*]
A young man sat sigh- ing by a sy - camoretree, Sing wil- low wil-low : withhis
Pf
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hand in his bo -som his head on his knee, O wil - low wil- low, O
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wil - low wil - low
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He sighed and sobbed and
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af - ter eachgroane, I'm dead to all joys since my true love is gone : O
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wil - low wil - low, O wil- low wil - low.
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THE EARLIER BALLADS. 109
Come all ye for - sa - ken and mourn now with me, Who
speaks of a false love mine's fals - er than she
rril - low wil - low,
O wil - low wil - low.
£
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This song is written in a form much in vogue in Italy about the
middle of the seventeenth century, which consists in setting a different
tune to each stanza, and connecting them by a short phrase in the nature of
a refrain, in this case an actual refrain. This form had already travelled to
Paris, whence in all probability Humfrey brought it. The song must
have become popular, for in Dr. Rimbault's Musical Illustrations of
Bishop Percy's Reliques, 1850, that author gives a tune to the song of
Willow willow, which he found attached to a parody published soon
after the Restoration, "A poor soulesat sighing near a gingerbread stall,"
and which is nothing but a very inferior version of Humfrey's tune.
This parody, with the tune, afterwards appeared in PI ay ford's Pleasant
Musical Companion, 1686.
The original song, extended to 23 stanzas and adopting many of
Humfrey's alterations, was also published as a broadside, and is to be
found in the Roxburghe collection, i. 54. — ED.]
no
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
ALL A GREEN WILLOW.
[In Thomas Dallis' Pupil's Lute Book (dated 1585) in the Library of
Trin. Coll., Dublin, is a tune called All a greane willowe ; and in the
British Museum, Addl. MSS. 15,233, is a song with the same title, the
composition of John Heywood, of which a few stanzas are here given.
The whole has been printed by the Shakespeare Society, with others
from the same MS.
(i) " Alas by what mene may I make ye to know,
the imkyndnes for kyndnes that to me doth growe :
that wone who most kynd love on me shoold bestow,
most unkynd unkyndnes to me she doth show :
for all a grene wyllow is my garland.
(3) " She sayde she dyd love me & woold love me still,
she svvare above all men I had her good wyll :
she sayde and she sware she woold my will fulfill,
the promise all good, the performance all yll :
for all, &c.
(7) " Cowld I forget thee as thou canst forget me,
that were my sownd fawlte which cannot nor shalbe :
thowghe thow lyke the soryng hawke evry way fle,
I wylbe the turtle most stedfast [stilll to the :
& paciently were this grene wyllow garland.
(8) " All ye that have had love & have my lyke wrong,
my lyke truthe and paciens plante still you among :
when femynyne fancis for new love do long,
old love cannot howld them, new love is so strong :
for all, &c."
The tune, which was perhaps intended for these words, is as
follows : —
-J— ^t
3
The two concluding bars were probably different in the tune from
these of the lute setting. It was no uncommon practice among lutenists
and writers for the virginals to depart from the original towards the
close, and, relying on their hearers' acquaintance with the tune, to substi-
tute some other portion of the final cadence for the usual one. — ED.]
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Ill
O DEATH, ROCK ME ASLEEP.
B.M. Addl. MSS., 15,117 (circ. 1600).
m= <=}=--<= I
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Deathe, O death
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rock i
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ne a -
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sleepe ' bring me
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to qui-et rest
let passe my wea-rye gilt - les
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ghost
out of my care - full brest.
m
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33"- '-=^3 SS35
P? <^^ 25 .^_ U—.. -— - -^1-
112
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Tole on thou passe- ing bell
ringe out . . my dole - fullknell,
'
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let thye sound my deathe
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tell,
for I must dye there is no re - me
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dye.
Dye:
for nowe I dye,
for
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
nowe I dye, I dye, I dye, I dye, I dye, I dye.
II.
My paynes who can expres,
Alas they are so stronge ;
My dolor will not suffer strength
My lyfe for to prolonge.
Toll on, &c.
III.
Alone in prison stronge,
I wayle my destenye ;
Wo worth this cruel hap that I
Should taste this miserye.
Toll on, £c.
IV.
Farewell my pleasures past,
Welcum my present payne,
I fele my torments so increse
That lyfe cannot remayne.
Cease now the passing bell,
Rong is my doleful knell,
For the sound my deth doth tell ;
Deth doth draw nye,
Sound my end dolefully,
For now I dye.
[The accompaniment here given is little more than a translation of
that written in tablature for the lute under the song in the MS. quoted
at the head. A few chords have been filled up, where they were dis-
agreeably bare in the original, but in form and substance the composition
is given practically as found. I draw special attention to this fact,
because the song affords the earliest example, so far as I know, of an
independent accompaniment1 ; which, moreover, in this case is an accom-
paniment in the most modern sense of the word, the knell supplying a
kind of comment throughout.— ED.]
1 By an independent accompaniment I mean
an accompaniment which has a character and
purpose of its own, apart from its office. The
sixteenth-century accompaniment was chiefly
upon the lute, and was written in perfectly
plain chords, in which the notes of the melody
were omitted. Taken separately it would be
quite without meaning. So also would be the
vocal or instrumental descant of compositions
such as that in which the tune of Browning (p. 1 54)
was found in the British Museum MSS., where
the tune is constantly shifted from part to part,
while the others accompany. Nor are any in-
dependent parts to be found in that other
curious class of compositions which made its
appearance at the close of the century and
continued during the first quarter of the next,
where the pieces are to all appearance madri-
gals or anthems, except that some of the parts
are without words, and were played upon
instruments. There all the parts are of equal
interest, and not less dependent upon each
other than in the case of the ordinary madrigal
or anthem. — ED.
114
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS.
The First Byoke of Ayres or Little Short Songs; to sing and play to the Ltite^ with
the Base Viole. By Thomas Morley. 1600.
[*]
It was a lov - er and his lasse, With a haye with a hoe and a
J N N ! !*J*
[Fast.]
T
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haye non-ie no, and a haye . . . non-ie non - ie no. That
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o're the green corne fields did passe, in spring - time in spring - time in
^—^-
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spring - time, the on - ly pret - tie ring time, when birds do sing hay
m
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ding a ding a ding, hay ding a ding a ding, hay ding a ding a ding, sweete
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THE EARLIER BALLADS,
lov - ers love the springe, in spring time,
in spring
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time, the on
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time, when
birds do sing hay ding a ding a ding, hay ding a ding a ding, jiay
I N N i J _ J** J* I* fr I i
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ding a ding a ding, sweete lov - ers love the springe.
2t * * ¥j-J J J
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Betweene the Akers of the rie,
With a hay, &c.
These prettie Countrie fooles would lie,
In springtime, &c.
This Carrel they began that houre,
With a hay. &c.
How that life was but a flower,
In spring time, &c.
Then prettie lovers take the time,
With a hay, &c.
For love is crowned with the prime,
In spring time, &c.
This song is in the comedy of As you like it.
I 2
i6
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
WITH MY FLOCK AS WALKED I.
Musica Antigua, from a MS. now in the B.M. (Addl. MSS. 29,481). Also in Eliz.
Rogers' Virginal Book, B.M. Addl. MSS., io,337,(there called "The Faithful Brothers.")
2. late a dam - sell past me by, with an in - tente to move her \
I. With my flocke as walked I, the plaines and mount-aines o - ver : J
-g- -j$-^
[Moderate.} ' f
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rwr~\
m
I stept in her waie, shee stept a - wrie, but ohe I shall ev - er love her.
1
•*
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r
Such a face shee had for to invite any man for to love her,
but her coy behaviour taught that it was but in vaine to move her ;
for diverse soe this dame had wrought that thaie them selves might move her.
Phebus for hir favour spent his heire hir faire browes to cover,
Venus cheeks and lipes weare sent that Cupid and Marse might move hir ;
but Juno alone hir nothinge lent, lest Jove him selfe should love hir.
Though shee be soe pure and chast that no body can disprove hir,
soe demure and straightlie cast that no body darse to move hir ;
yet is shee so fresh and sweetlie faire that I shall alwaies love hir.
Lett her knowe though faire shee be that ther is a power above hir,
thousand more inamored shalbe though litle it will move hir ;
shee still doth vow virginitie when all the world doth love hir.
This song is evidently in allusion to Queen Elizabeth, and in the
usual complimentary style to her beauty, to her vow of virginity, &c.
The following is the version called The Faithful Brothers : —
rJ J
==1=
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
117
In the Dancing Master of 1665 the tune appears in print for the first
time, but altered, and with the name of Northern Nancy. The version
there given is as follows : —
3
The ballad of Northern Nancy is not known, but in the Roxburghe
Collection, i. 252, is one entitled " The Map of Mock-Begger Hall, with
his scituation in the spacious countrey called ANYWHERE. To the
tune of Is it not your Northern Nanny ; or Sweet is the lass that loves
me" And in the same collection, ii. 390, is another, called The Ruined
Lover, &c., " to the tune of Mock-Begger 's Hall stands empty" Both
these ballads are suitable to the tune last given.
Northern Nancy is one of the tunes called for by " the hob-nailed
fellows " in The Second Tale of a Tub, 8vo, 1715.
WALKING IN A COUNTRY TOWN.
Robinson's Schoole of Musicke, 1603.
[*]
Walk - ing in a mea- dow greene, for re - ere - a - tion sake : To
I III I
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drive a - way some sad . . . thoughtes that sorro- full did mee make
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
I spyed two love - ly lov - ers, did heare each o - ther's woe : To
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poynt a place of meet - ing, up
on the me - dow bro[w.]
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Saying come my lovely sweeting,
com sit thee downe by inee ;
It is a merry meeting,
if wee two can agree.
If we two can agree,
to this I thee do wo[o]e ;
That thou shouldst onely meete me,
uppon the meddow browe.
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 412, is a ballad beginning " Walking
in a meadow green," and, from the similarity of the lines, and the measure
of the verse so exactly suiting the air, I suppose it to be intended for
this tune. The first two stanzas are here printed with the music.
The last line of the verse is " Upon the meadow brow," and The
meadow brow is often quoted as a tune. So in the Roxburghe Collection,
i. 92, or Collier's Roxburghe Ballads, p. i, is " Death's Dance " (begin-
ning, " If Death would come and shew his face "), " to be sung to a
pleasant new tune called O no, no, no, not yet, or The meadow brow."
And Bishop Corbet's song, " Farewell, rewards and fairies," is " to be
sung or whistled to the tune The meddow brow by the learned ; by the
unlearned, to the tune of Fortune" 1 — (Percy, series iii. book 2.)
1 This is not conceivable, the measure of the
two tunes being entirely different. The Bishop,
however, who seems to have been seldom
serious, may have intended this for a stroke of
humour, in allusion to the great popularity of
Fortune among the lowest and most ignorant
kind of people. — ED.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
119
THE WOODS SO WILD.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Lady Neville's Virginal Book ; B.M. Addl. MSS.,
30,485 and 31,403; Pammelia, 1609 ; William Ballet's Lute Book, Trin. Coll., Dublin;
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
WILLIAM BYRD.
j j J
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Another ending : —
ORLANDO GIBBONS.
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120 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Another setting, with a different ending ;—
WILLIAM BYRD.
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[This tune is mentioned, together with By a bank as I lay, in the
passage from a Life of Sir Peter Carew already given at p. 47 of the
present volume. Nothing is known of the words, except the few frag-
ments which have been pieced together by Ravenscroft in his version,
given in Pammelia, and which, as they do not make any sort of sense, I
have not thought it worth while to print. Ravenscroft's tune is identical
with the first of the examples given above; but in the later version, given
in the Dancing Master, the B is made flat throughout, thus changing the
mode of the original, the Mixolydian, into the Dorian transposed.1 The
name, too, has been altered in the Dancing Master ; the tune is there
called Greenwood, and in the later editions Greenwood, or the Huntsman.
ED.]
1 In Byrd's first setting, the BJ? given at the mode, as he corrects it by a natural in the
signature is only intended for the convenience tune, throughout. Gibbons, in his setting, has
of the lower parts. It does not really alter the done the same thing.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
121
COME O'ER THE BOURNE, BESSY.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. xiii. u (there called "Over the broome, Bessy");
Dorothy Welde's Lute Book (there called " Browne Besse, sweet Besse, come over
to me").
• u [*] 1
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[Moderate.]
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A cL. J J ^ . J ^
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[This version is from the Cambridge Lute MSS. ; that contained in
Dorothy Welde's book is rather different, and more elaborately treated,
but the resemblances are sufficient to prove a common origin. As the
words of the original song have not yet been discovered, a few stanzas
are here given from a ballad in the library of the Society of Antiquaries,
by William Birche (also printed in Harl. Misc., x. 260 ; ed. Park), called
A Songe betwene the Queue's Majestie and Englande, which was no doubt
intended to be sung to the tune, and which begins as follows : —
122 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
" E. Come over the born Bessy, " E. I am thy lover faire
Come over the born Bessy, Hath chose the to mine heir,
Sweete Bessy come over to me ; And my name is mery Englande ;
And I shall the take, Therefore come away,
And my dere lady make, And make no more delay,
Before all other that ever I see Swete Bessie, give me thy hande.
" /?. Mythinke I hear a voice, " B. Here is my hande,
At whom I do rejoyce, My dere lover Englande.
And aunswer the now I shall ; I am thine with both mind and hart
Tel me, I say, [away, For ever to endure,
What art thou that biddes me come Thou maiest be sure,
And so earnestly doost me call ? Untill death us two do depart."
But the original song must be much older ; for in the British
Museum (Addl. MSS., 5,665) is a composition for three voices, certainly
not later than 1530, which begins with the first phrase of the tune (as
given in Dorothy Welde's book), and refers, in the words also, to
something earlier still : —
" Com oer the burne besse,
thou lytyll prety besse,
com oer the burne besse to me
The burne is the worlde blynde,
& besse is mankynde,
so propyr I can none fynde as she.
she daunces and lepys,
& Crist stondes & clepys,
com oer the burne besse to me.
This is evidently one of the moralising imitations of something
already well known which were so common in the sixteenth century.
Another reason for assigning the original song to the early years of
this century is to be found in the character of the melody itself. No
melody in the Mixolydian mode which begins, like this and the one
immediately preceding, as if in the scale of F, is at all likely to have
been composed later than the first quarter of the century. After that
date the mode was treated more and more like the key of G major : the
F# was more often introduced into the harmony, and the chords of F
and Bb were entirely eliminated.
There is a reference to the song in King Lear, act iii., sc. 6 : —
" Wantest thou eyes at trial, Madam ?
Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me/'
—ED.]
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
123
COME LIVE WITH ME, AND BE MY LOVE.
The Second Booke of Ayres, &c., by W. Corkine, 1612 ; also in Steevens' Shakespeare,
from a MS. belonging to Sir John Hawkins.
[*]
Come live with me and be my love,
— —
*
and we will
[Moderate^
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all the pleas- ures prove, that hills and val
leys
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and field,
and all the crag - gy
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moun-tains yield.
And we will sit upon the rockes,
Seeing the Shepheards feede their flockes
By shallow rivers, to whose fals
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
By shallow rivers to whose fals, &c.
And I wi1! make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant poses ;
A cap of flowers and a kirtle
Imbrodred all with leaves of mirtle.
A cap of flowers and a kirtle, &c.
1 The first stanza of the original broadside
is so rough and unsuitable to the tune that it was
thought better to substitute the more usual
version. In the original it is as follows : —
" Live with me, and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That vallies, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountaines yeelds ;
That vallies, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy motintaines yeeldes. "
124 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
A gowne made of the finest wooll, Thy silver dishes, fil'd with meate
Which from our pretty lambs we pull : As precious as the gods doe eate,
Faire lined slippers for the cold, Shall on an ivory table be
With buckles of the purest gold. Prepaid each day for thee and me.
Faire lined slippers for the cold, &c. Shall on an ivory table be, &c.
The Shepheard swaines shall dance and sing
For thy delight each faire morning,
If these delights thy minde might move,
To live with me, and be my love.
If these delights, &c.
The words are from the ballad version in the Roxburghe Collection,
which, with the exception of the fifth stanza, is practically the same as
the one more usually given from England's Helicon, idoo.1
In act iii., sc. i, of The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1602, Sir Hugh
Evans sings the following lines, which form part of the song : —
" To shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals ;
There will we make our beds of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies."
The song is alluded to in the following passage from Walton's
Angler, 1653 :— " It was a handsome milkmaid, that had not attained so
much age and wisdom as to load her mind with any fears of many
things that will never be, as too many men often do ; but she cast away
all care, and sung like a nightingale : her voice was good, and the ditty
fitted for it : it was that smooth song which was made by Kit Marlow,2
now at least fifty years ago."
In Marlow's tragedy, The Jew of Malta, written in or before 1591, he
introduces the first lines of the song in the following manner : —
" Thou, in whose groves, by Dis above,
Shall live with me, and be my love."
In Choice, Chance, and Change ; or, Conceits in their Colours, 4to, 1606,
1 England's Helicon contains abo "The same nature made since," commencing—
Nimph's Reply to the Shepheard," beginning- « Come live with me, and be my deere,
" If all the world and love were young, And we will revel all the yeere,"
And truth in every shepherd's tongue ; " wjtn the same subscription.
which is there subscribed " Ignoto," but which 2 See Mr> A> H Bullen's edition of Marlowe's
Walton attributes to Sir Walter Raleigh, Works (Nimmo, 1885), vol. iii., p. 283.
" in his younger days " ; and " another of the
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 125
Tidero, being invited to live with his friend, replies, " Why, how now ?
do you take me for a woman, that you come upon me with a ballad of
Come live with me, and be my love ? "
Nicholas Breton, in his Poste with a Packet of Mad Letters, 4to, 1637,
says : — " You shall hear the old song that you were wont to like well of,
sung by the black brows with the cherry cheek, under the side of the
pied cow, Come live with me, and be my love, you know the rest."
Sir Harris Nicholas, in his edition of Walton's Angler, quotes a song
in imitation of Come live with me, by Herrick, commencing —
" Live, live with me, and thou shalt see ; "
and Steevens remarks that the ballad appears to have furnished Milton
with the hint for the last lines of L? Allegro and 11 Penseroso.
Another imitation is Dr. Donne's song, entitled " The Bait," begin-
ning—
" Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove,
Of golden sands and crystal brooks,
With silken lines and silver hooks," &c.
From the following passage in • The Worlds Folly, 1609, it appears
that there may have been an older tune : — " But there sat he, hanging
his head, lifting up the eyes, and with a deep sigh, singing the ballad of
Come live with me, and be my love, to the tune of Adew, my deere?
In Deloney's Strange Histories, 1607, is the ballad of " The Imprison-
ment of Queen Eleanor," &c., to the tune of Come live with me, and be
my love, which has six lines in each stanza ; and " The woefull Lamenta-
tion of Jane Shore," beginning, " If Rosamond that was so fair " (copies
of which are in the Pepys, Bagford, and Roxburghe Collections), " to the
tune of Live with me, which has four lines and a burden of two —
" Then maids and wives in time amend,
For love and beauty will have end."
In Westminster Drollery, 1671 and 1674, is a parody on Come live
with me, to the tune of My freedom is all my joy. That also has six
lines, and the last is repeated.
Other ballads, like "A most sorrowful song, setting forth the miserable
end of Banister, who betrayed the Duke of Buckingham, his lord and
master : to the tune of Live with me ; and the Life and Death of the
great Duke of Buckingham, who came to an untimely end for consenting
to the depositing of two gallant young princes," &c., have, like Come
live with me, only four lines in each stanza. — (See Crown Garland of
Golden Roses, 1612 ; and Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 18 and 23.)
126
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[*]
THE NOBLE SHIRVE.1
MS. of Virginal Music in the possession of Dr. Rimbault.
L_ 1 . . 1
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Although the MS. from which this tune is taken (once the property
of Mr. Windsor, of Bath) is of the seventeenth, the tunes are generally
traceable to the sixteenth century, and perhaps the latest are of the
reign of James I. The words of the song or ballad are not known.
1 " Shirve " is a very old form of " Shire- use here creates a strong probability in favour
reeve," or Sheriff, which seems to have quite of the antiquity of the original,
disappeared in the seventeenth centuiy. Its
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
127
ROW WELL, YE MARINERS.
Robinson's Schoole of Mustek, 1603 ; The Dancing Master ; all editions ; Pills to
purge Melancholy, 1707, to a song called " John and Joan."
M
^Moderate.} I J I I J I* I
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128 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
From the Registers of the Stationers' Company, we find that in
1565-6 William Pickering had a licence to print a ballad entitled,
" Row well, ye manners," and in the following year, " Row well, ye
mariners, moralized." In 1566-7 John Alldee had a licence to print
" Stand fast, ye manners," which was, in all probability, another
moralization ; and in the following year two others : the one, " Row
well, ye mariners, moralized, with the story of Jonas," the other,
"Row well, Christ's mariners." In 1567-8 Alexander Lacy took a
licence to print "Row well, God's mariners," and in 1569-70 John
Sampson to print " Row well, ye mariners, for those that look big."
These numerous entries sufficiently prove the popularity of the original,
and I regret not having succeeded in finding a copy of any of these
ballads.
Three others, to the tune of Row well, ye mariners, have been
reprinted by Mr. Payne Collier, in his Old Ballads, for the Percy Society.
The first (dated 1570)—
" A lamentation from Rome, how the Pope doth bewail
That the rebels in England cannot prevail."
The second, " The end and confession of John Felton, who suffred in
Paules Churcheyarde, in London, the 8th August [1570], for high
treason." Felton placed the Bull of Pope Pius V., excommunicating
Elizabeth, on the gate of the palace of the Bishop of London, and was
hung on a gallows set up expressly before that spot. The third,
" A warning to London by the fall of Antwerp."
In A Handefull of Pleasant Delites, 1584, there is "A proper sonet,
wherein the lover dolefully sheweth his grief to his love and requireth
pity," which is also to the tune of Row well, ye mariners.
[The ballads above mentioned by no means exhaust the list of
compositions made for this tune, but I have seen none which seemed at
all in keeping with its peculiar character. The original words, could
they be recovered, would no doubt be perfectly satisfactory ; but failing
these, I have thought it better to print the tune alone. — ED.]
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
129
SINCE FIRST 1 SAW YOUR FACE.
Thomas Ford's Musicke of Sundrie Kindes, 1607.
[*]
2. If now I be disdained I wish my heart had nev - er known you,
I. Since first I saw your face I resolved to hon - our and re - nown you
[Moderate.]
—
What, I thatlovedand you that liked shall we be- gin to wran - gle?
N
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No, no, no, my heart is fast, and can - not clis - en - tan
gle.
^— d4d — ^f=*
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1 1
If I admire or praise you too much,
That fault you may forgive me ;
Or if my hands had stray'd to touch,
Then justly might you leave me.
I ask'd you leave, you bade me love,
Is't now a time to chide me ?
No, no, no, I'll love you still,
What fortune e'er betide me.
The sun, whose beams most glorious are,
Rejecteth no beholder ;
And your sweet beauty, past compare,
Made my poor eyes the bolder.
When beauty moves, and wit delights,
And signs of kindness bind me,
There, O there, where'er I go,
I'll leave my heart behind me.
This song will be found also in The Golden Garland of Princely
Delight. In the edition of 1620 it is called " Love's Constancy."
K
130
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
WELL-A-DAY.
Sir John Hawkins' Transcripts of Virginal Music.
[*]
Sweet England's pride is gone, well - a-day, well - a-day ; which makes her
W¥
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sigh and grone, ever - more still.
He did her fame advance in Ireland,
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Spain and France ; and now by dismall chance is . . from us tane.
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He was a vertuous Peere, well-a-day, well-a-day ;
and was esteemed deare, evermore still.
He allwayes helpt the poore, which makes them sigh ful sore ;
his death they do deplore, in every place.
Brave honour grac'd him still, gallantly, gallantly ;
he nere did deed of ill, well it is knowne.
But Envy, that foule fiend, whose malice nere did end,
hath brought true vertues friend unto his thralL
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 131
The original ballad of " Well-a-day " is not known, nor any copy of
" The Second Well-a-day," which Mr. Wally had a licence to print in
1556-7, nor yet of a " New Well-a-day," entered by Thomas Colwell in
1 569-70. But copies exist of other ballads intended to be sung to the tune ;
one, for instance, of " A lamentable dittie composed upon the death of
Robert Lord Devereux, late Earle of Essex, who was beheaded in the
Tower of London, upon Ash Wednesday, in the morning, 1600. To the
tune of Well-a-day. Imprinted at London for Margaret Allde, &c.
1603." This has been reprinted in Payne Collier's Old Ballads ; and by
Evans, and there are also copies in the Roxburghe and Bagford Collec-
tions. It is from this ballad that the three stanzas printed with the
tune are taken.
Other ballads to this tune are —
" Sir Walter Rauleigh his Lamentation," &c., " to the tune of Well-a-
day" — (Pepys Collection, i. ill, B.L.)
" The arraignment of the Devil for stealing away President Bradshaw.
Tune, Well-a-day, well-a-day" — (King's Pamphlets, vol. 15, or Wright's
Political Ballads, 1 39.)
" The Princely Song of the Six Queens that were married to Henry
the 8th, King of England." The tune is Well-a-day. — (See Crown Gar-
land of Golden Roses, 1659.)
In The World's Folly (B.L.) a widow " would sing The Lamentation of
a Sinner, to the tune of Well-a-day e"
There was perhaps an older tune and song of Well-a-day, or Well-a-
way, now lost ; for Chaucer, in the " Wife of Bath's Tale," makes her say,
speaking in the prologue of her husbands, "they songen Weylaway" And
in the " Shipman's Tale," " For I may synge alias and waylaway that I
was born." So in the " Owl and the Nightingale," one of the earliest
English poems, the owl says to the nightingale —
" Thu singest a night, and noght a dai,
And all thi song is wail awai."
In The Chronicles of England, printed by Caxton in 1482, in the
description of the siege of Harfleur, occurs the following passage : —
" And there he played at the tenys with his harde gonne stones, and they
that were within the toune whan they sholde playe, theyr songe was
wel awey."
In the sixteenth century we find a similar passage in Nicholas
Breton's Farewell to Town : —
" I must, ah me ! wretch, as I may,
Go sing the song of Welaivay."
K 2
132
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
ESSEX'S LAST GOOD-NIGHT.
Eliz. Rogers' Virginal Book, B.M. Addl. MSS., 10,337 ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS.,
Dd. vi. 48.
[*]
All you that cry 0 hone 0 hone, come no wand sing O Lord with me :
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For why our Jewell is from us gone, the va - liant Knight of Chi-val-ry.
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Of rich and poore beloved was he,
in time an honorable knight :
When by our lawes condemned was he,
and lately tooke his last good-night, &c.
This ballad is in the Pepys Collection, i. 106 ; and Roxburghe, i. 101
and 185. In the Pepys Collection it is called " A lamentable new ballad
upon the Earl of Essex his death ; to the tune of The King's Last Good-
night" In the Roxburghe, i. 101, to the tune of Essex's Last Good-night.
It is printed in Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 167 (1810) ; but, as usual, without
the name of the tune.
Among the ballads sung to this tune are " The story of 111 May-day,
&c., and how Queen Catherine begged the lives of 2,000 London appren-
tices." Tune, Essex's Good-night. — (Crown Garland of Golden Roses, or
Evans, iii. 76.)
"The doleful death of Queen Jane, wife of Henry VIII.," &c.
" Tune, The Lamentation of the Lord of Essex!' — (Crown Garland, or
Evans, iii. 92.)
A carol, to the tune of Essex's Last Good-night, dated 1661. — (Wright's
Carols.) —
" All you that in this house be here,
Remember Christ that for us died ;
And spend away with modest cheer,
In loving sort this Christmas-tide," &c.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
133
WE BE SOLDIERS THREE.
Freemen's Songs to Three Voices, Deuteromelia^ 1609 ; Pills to purge Melancholy -,
1698.
[*]
We be soul-diers three, Par -don- a moy. . je vons an pree,1
m
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Late • ly come forth of the low coun- try with nev - er a pen - ny of mon-y.2
J-^ — ^
Here good fellow, I drinke to thee,
Par dona moy je vous an firee;
To all good fellowes wherever they be,
With never a penny of mony.
And he that will not pledge me this,
Par dona moy je vous an pree^
Payes for the shot what ever it is,
With never a penny of mony.
Charge it againe boy, charge it againe,
Pardona moy je vous an preej
As long as there is any inck in thy pen,
With never a penny of mony.
1 " These pardonnez-moys who stand so
much on the new form." — {Romeo and 'Juliet ',
act ii., sc. 4.) Dr. Johnson in a note says : —
" Pardonnez moi became the language of doubt
or hesitation among men of the sword, when
the point of honour was grown so delicate
that no other mode of contradiction would be
endured."
2 In the original, the words "Fa la la la
lantido dilly " are printed over the last line of
the stanza ; but whether this piece of nonsense
is alternative or supplementary, there is nothing
to indicate. — ED.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
WE BE THREE POOR MARINERS.
[*]
Freemen's Songs of Three Voices, Deuteromelia, 1609.
We be three poore Mar - i - ners, new - ly come from the
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
135
bul - ly boy, con
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ie pledge me on the §
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ground the ground the ground.
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that do our states disdaine ;
But we care for those Marchant men
who do our states maintaine.
To them we daunce this round, this round, this round,
to them we daunce this round :
And he that is a bully boy,
come pledge me on the ground.
This tune also appears in the Skene MS. (the probable date of which
is late in the seventeenth century), but as a dance tune, with the title,
"Brangitt (Branle) of Poictu"
The name Branle, in English Braule, was applied to a numerous class
of dances ; including all those, for instance, in which, as in the Cotillon,
the dancers follow a leader. It is mentioned by Shakespeare, Ben
Jonson, Massinger, and other contemporary writers, and was still in
vogue at Court in the reign of Charles II. The typical branle is thus
described in the Dictionnaire de Danse (par Ch. Compan), Paris, 8vo,
1787: — "Branle est un danse par ou commencent tous les Bals, ou
plusieurs personnes dansent en Rond, en se tenant par la main et se
donnant un branle continuel et concerte", avec des pas convenables, selon
la difference des airs qu'on joue alors. Les Branles consistent en trois
pas et un pied-joint, qui se font en quatre mesures, ou coups d'archet,
qu'on disoit autrefois battement de tambourin. Quand ils sont repute's
deux fois, ce sont des Branles doubles ; au commencement on danse des
Branles simples, et puis le Branle gut, par deux mesures ternaires, et il est
ainsi appelle" parce qu'on a toujours un pied en 1'air." Thoinot Arbeau
gives " Les Branles du Poictu, qui se dansent par mesure ternaire, en
allant toujours a gauche," also " Branles d'Ecosse et de Bretagne : on
appelle ceuxci le Triory." He also tells us that "Les danses aux chansons
sont des especes de Branles/'
Here we have it clearly laid down that the Bransle de Poictu is in
triple time, and so by Morley, in his Introduction, 1597 ; therefore the
name of Bransle de Poictu is improperly given to " We be three poor
Mariners," in the Skene MS., unless it be in the sense of " une danse
a chanson."
136
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
YONDER COMES A COURTEOUS KNIGHT.
Freemen's Songs to Four Voices, Deuteromelia, 1609 ; Pills to purge Melancholy p,
vol. i., 1698.
[*]
Yon - der comes a cour - teous knight, . . Lus - te-ly rak - ing
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o J M i
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He was well ware of a .
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bon - ny lasse, as
1 1 i 1 1
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she came wan - dring o - ver the way.
i i i ! i is
Then she sang downe a downe,
^—^-^-
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hey downe der-ry, . . Then she sang downe a downe, hay downe der - ry.
J M +-
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Jove you speed, fayre lady, he said,
Among the leaves that be so greene :
If I were a king and wore a crowne,
Full soone, fayre lady, shouldst thou be a queen.
Then she sang Downe a downe, hay downe deny.
This ballad, of which there are in all ten stanzas, has been printed
by Ritson in his Ancient Songs.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
'37
WHO LIVETH SO MERRY.
Freemen's Songs to Four Voices, Deuteromelia, 1609 ; Pills to purge Melancholy ',
vol. i., 1698, &c.
[*]
2. And ev - er she sing - eth, as I
i. Who liv - eth so mer - ry in all
. can guesse, Will you
. this land, As
,\J , fl J
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buy a - r
doth the po<
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3re
sr
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ind, a - ny
/id - dow that
sand, . . Mis
sell - eth the
tris.
sand?
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The broom-man maketh his living most sweet,
with carrying of broomes from street to street.
Chorus — Who would desire a pleasanter thing
than all the day long to doe nothing but sing ?
The Chimney-sweeper all the long day,
he singeth and sweepeth the soote away ;
Chorus — Yet when he comes home, although he be weary,
with his sweet wife he maketh full merry.
The cobbler he sits cobbling till noone,
and cobbleth his shoes till they be done ;
Chorus — Yet doth he not feare, and so doth say,
for he knows that his worke will soone decay.
Who liveth so merry, and maketh such sport,
as those that be of the poorest sort ?
Chorus — The poorest sort, wheresoever they be,
they gather together by one, two, and three.
And every man will spend his penny,
What makes such a shot among a great many.
bis.
138
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
In the first year of the Registers of the Stationers' Company
(1557-8), there is an entry of a licence to Mr. John Wallye and Mrs.
Toye to print a " Ballette " called
" Who ly ve so mery and make such sporte,
As thay that be of the poorest sorte ? "
These lines will be found in the last verse of the song, and were probably
printed at the head of it as the title. Barnefield probably alludes to it
in the following passage from The Shepherds Content, 1594 : —
" Thus doth he frolic it each day by day,
And when night comes, draws homeward to his cot,
Singing a jig or merry roundelay.
For who sings commonly so merry a note,
As he that cannot chop or change a groat."
[*]
I HAVE HOUSE AND LAND IN KENT.
Melismata, 1611.
I have house and land in Kent, and if you'll love me love me now.
fo+u-?-*-^
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love me now.
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is my rent, I
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cannot come ev - 'ry
^ P^ 1
day to woo.
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
139
CHORUS.
Two pence half- pen-ny is his rent, he cannot come ev - 'ry day to woo.
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Ich am my vather's eldest zonne,
My mouther eke doth love me well ;
For ich can bravely clout my shoone,
And ich full well can ring a bell.
Chorus. —
For he can bravely clout his shoone,
And he full well can ring a bell.
My vather he gave me a hogge,
My mouther she gave me a zow ;
I have a godvather dwells there by,
And he on me bestowed a plow.
Chorus. —
He has a godvather stands thereby,
And he on him bestowed a plow.
One time I gave thee a paper of pins,
Anoder time a taudry lace ;
And if thou wilt not grant me love,
In truth ich die bevore thy vace.
Chorus. —
And if thou wilt not grant his love,
In truth he'll die bevore thy vace.
Ich have beene twise our Whitson lord,
Ich have had ladies many vare ;
And eke thou hast my heart in hold,
And in my mind zeemes passing rare.
Chorus. —
And eke thou hast his heart in hold,
And in his mind zeemes passing rare.
Ich will put on my best white slopp,
And ich will wear my jellow hose,
And on my head a good gray hat,
And in't ich stick a lovely rose.
Chorus. —
And on his head a good gray hat,
And in't he'll stick a lovely rose.
Wherefore cease off, make no delay,
And if you'll love me, love me now ;
Or else ich zeek zome oder where,
For I cannot come every day to woo.
Chorus. —
Or else he'll zeek zome oder where,
For he cannot come every day to woo.
The copy of this song in the Pepys Collection (iii. 134) consists of
fourteen stanzas.
Puttenham, in his Art of English Poesie, quotes a song " in our inter-
lude called The Wooer, where the country clown came and wooed a
young maid of the city, and being aggrieved to come so oft and not
have his answer, said to the old nurse very impatiently :—
Wooer. * Iche pray you, good mother, tell our young dame,
Whence I am come, and what is my name ;
I cannot come a-wooing every day.
(Quoth the Nurse.} They be lubbers, not lovers, that so use to say.' "
140
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[*]
MARTIN SAID TO HIS MAN.
Freemen's Songs to Three Voices, Deuteromelia, 1609 ; The Fitzwilliam
Virginal Book.
Mar - tin said to his man, fie man fie
O Mar - tin said
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fill thou the cup and I the can :Thouhastwelldrun-ken man, who's the foole now ?
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I see a man in the Moone,
Fie, man, fie :
I see a man in the moone,
Who's the foole now ?
I see a man in the moone,
Clowting of St. Peter's shoone,
Thou hast well, &c.
I see a hare chase a hound,
Fie, man, fie :
I see a hare chase a hound,
Who's the foole now ?
I see a hare chase a hound,
Twenty mile above the ground,
Thou hast well, &c.
I see a goose ring a hog,
Fie, man, fie :
I see a goose ring a hog,
Who's the foole now ?
I see a goose ring a hog,
And a snayle that did bite a dog,
Thou hast well, &c.
I see a mouse catch the cat,
Fie, man, fie :
I see a mouse catch the cat,
Who's the foole now ?
I see a mouse catch the cat,
And the cheese to eate the rat,
Thou hast well, &c.
This song, which is thought to be a satire upon the relaters of
marvellous tales, was entered on the books of the Stationers' Company
as a ballad in 1588, when Thomas Orwyn had a licence to print it. It
is alluded to in Dekker's comedy, Old Fortunatus, and in Dryden's Sir
Martin Mar-all^ or the Feign' d Innocence, 1668, act. iv.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
141
OF ALL THE BIRDS.
Freemen's Songs to Three Voices, Deuteromelia, 1609. *
[*]
2. For all the day long she sits in a tree, and when the night comes a
i. Of all the Birds that ev - er I see, the Owle is the fay - rest in
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wav flies she (TENOR.) (TREBLE.) (TENOR.) (TREBLE.)
her de- r ee • Te whit' te whow' to whom drinks thou ? sir
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he is a knave that drink-eth now. Nose, nose, nose, nose, and
J. ^J. J. ^ I J. J.^. ^.J- -J-
1 The tune here given is the tenor in Ravenscroft's setting ; from which also are taken the
indications, Tenor, Treble, &c. — ED.
I42
who gave
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
(TENOR.)
lis 1 Jo1 " ly red nose Sin - a - mont £ Gin - ger
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The last section of the above song is to be found among the many
snatches and fragments of old ballads in The Knight of the Burning
Pestle, sung by Old Merrythought.
THE WEDDING OF THE FROG AND MOUSE.
Melismata, 1611.
M.M.B.
It was a frog in the well, Hum - ble - dum Hum - ble - dum
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
The frogge would a- wooing ride,
Humble-dum, humble-dum ;
Sword and buckler by his side,
Tweedle, tweedle, twino.
When upon his high horse set,
Humble-dum, &c.
His boots they shone as black as jet,
Tweedle, &c.
When he came to the merry mill pin,
Lady Mouse beene you within ?
Hast thou any mind of me ?
I have e'en great mind of thee.
Who shall this marriage make ?
Our Lord, which is the rat.
What shall we have to our supper ?
Three beans in a pound of butter.
But, when supper they were at,
The frog, the mouse, and e'en the rat,
Then came in Gib, our cat,
And caught the mouse e'en by the back.
Then did they separate :
The frog leapt on the floor so flat ;
Then came out the dusty mouse :
I am lady of this house.
Then came in Dick, our Drake,
And drew the frog e'en to the lake ;
The rat he ran up the wall,
" And so the Company parted all."
In Wedderburn's Complaint of Scotland, 1549, one of the songs sung
by the shepherds is The frog cam to the myl dur (mill door). In 1580 a
ballad of "A most strange Wedding of the Frog and the Mouse," probably
the same as the above, was licensed to Edward White, at Stationers'
Hall. It is the progenitor of several others ; one beginning —
" There was a frog lived in a well,
And a farce mouse in a mill " ;
another, " A frog he would a-wooing go " ; a third in Pills to purge
Melancholy, &c., &c.
THE CRAMP.
[The only known version of this tune is to be found in Pammelia,
1609 ; but as it is there arranged with two other country dances (Robin
Hood, Robin Hood, said Little John, and Now foot it as I do, Tomboy
Torn), to be sung all three together, it is not very trustworthy. — ED.]
p
i
r 4 *-H — r-
The cramp is in my purse full sore, no money will bide therein - a, And
£&
^=ft
if I had some salve., therefore, O light-ly then would I sing - a Hay ho the
^F-F-ti
cramp - a, Hay ho the cramp - a, Hay ho the cramp - a, the cramp - a.
144
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
In the Ashmolean Library, in the same manuscript volume with Chevy
Chace (No, 48), is a ballad by Elderton, describing the articles sold in the
market in time of Lent. In 1570 William Pickering had a licence to
prfnt a ballad entitled Lenten Stuff, which was, in all probability, the
same. Elderton's ballad is called —
" A new ballad, entitled Lenton Stuff,
For a little money ye may have enough " ;
to the tune of The Cramp ; but it was evidently intended for a version
different from the one given above.
" Lenton stuffe ys cum to the towne,
The alewhyfe weeke cums quicklye :
You know well mow that ye now must kneele downe.
Cum on take ashes trykly.
That nither was good flesh e nor fyshe,
But dip with Judas in the dyshe,
And keepe a rowte not worthe a ryshe.
Herrynge, herrynge whtye and red,
Seeke owt suche as be rotten ;
Thowgh sum be hanged & sum be dede,
And sum be yet forgotten."
It is not noticed by Ritson in his list of Elderton's ballads, BibL Poet.
p. 195-8 ; but Mr. Halliwell has printed it in the volume containing The
Marriage of Wit and Wisdom for the Shakespeare Society.
REMEMBER, O THOU MAN.
Ravenscroft's Melismata, 1611 ; Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1666, &c.
THOMAS RAVENSCROFT.
Re-mem-'ber O thouman, O thouman, O thou man : Re-mem-bei
fo^y gj d d
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O thouman thy time is
spent.
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O thouman, Howthou art
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
H5
dead and gone : and I did what I can, there - fore re - pent.
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Remember Adam's fall, O thou man, &c.,
Remember Adam's fall, from heaven to
hell ; [condemned all
Remember Adam's fall, how we were
In hell perpetual there for to dwell.
Remember God's goodness, O thou man,
&c., [mise made ;
Remember God's goodness and his pro-
Remember God's goodness, how he sent
his Son, doubtless
Our sins for to redress; — Be not afraid.
The angels all did sing, O thou man, &c. ;
The angels all did sing upon the shep-
herds' hill ;
The angels all did sing praises to our
heavenly King, [will.
And peace to man living, with a good
The shepherds amazed were, O thou man,
&c., [angels sing ;
The shepherds amazed were, to hear the
The shepherds amazed were, how it should
come to pass, [King.
That Christ, our Messias, should be our
To Bethlem they did go, O thou man, &c.,
To Bethlem they did go, the shepherds
three ;
To Bethlem they did go, to see wh'er it
were so or no, [man free.
Whether Christ were born or no, to set
As the angels before did say, O thou man,
&c., [to pass ;
As the angels before did say, so it came
As the angels before did say, they found a
babe where it lay, [was.
In a manger, wrapt in hay, so poor he
In Bethlem he was born, O thou man, &c.,
In Bethlem he was born for mankind's
sake ;
In Bethlem he was born for us that were
forlorn, [to take.
And therefore took no scorn our flesh
Give thanks to God always, O thou man,
&c., [joyfully ;
Give thanks to God with heart most
Give thanks to God alway, for this our
happy day —
Let all men sing and say, Holy, holy.
This carol, which appeared first in the division of Melismata devoted
to " Country Humours," was soon after paraphrased in " Ane compen-
dious booke of Godly and Spirituall Songs... with sundrie...ballates
chainged out of prophaine Songes," &c., printed by Andro Hart, in
Edinburgh, in 1621.
" Remember, man, remember, man, And hes done for the" that I can :
That I thy saull from Sathan wan, Thow art full deir to me," &c.
—Scottish Poems of the Sixteenth Century ', ii. 188, 1801.
From Melismata the carol was copied into Forbes' Songs and Fancies,
and taught in the Music School at Aberdeen.
It has sometimes been supposed that this tune afforded materials to
the composer of God save the King.
146
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
GO FROM MY WINDOW.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iii. 18 ; B.M.
Addl. MSS., 3 1, 392, and Eg. MSS., 2,046 (Jane Pickering's Lute Book) ; Barley's New
Book of Tabliture, \ 596 : Morle/s First Booke of Consort Lessons, 1 599 ; Robinson's
Schoole of Musick, 1603: Dancing Master, 1650-86, much altered, and named "The
New Exchange, or Durham Stable."
f\\ rv
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II MI
On the 4th March, 1587-8, John Wolfe had a licence to print a
ballad called " Goe from the window," which may be the original ; but
no copies of it are known to exist. Nash, in his controversial tracts
with Harvey, 1599, mentions a song, "Go from my garden, go." In
Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle, Old Merrythought
sings —
" Go from my window, love, go ;
Go from my window, my dear ;
The wind and the rain
Will drive you back again :
You cannot be lodged here.
Begone, begone, my juggy, my puggy,
Begone, my love, my dear ;
The weather is warm,
'Twill do thee no harm :
Thou canst not be lodged here."
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 147
In Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas we find —
" Come up to my window, love, come, come, come,
Come to my window, my dear ;
The wind nor the rain
Shall trouble thee again :
But thou shalt be lodged here."
It is again quoted by Fletcher in The Woman's Prize ; or, The Tamer
tamed, act i., sc. 3 ; by Middleton, in Blurt Master Constable ; and by
Otway in The Soldiers Fortune, where only the first line is printed, with
an "&c.," indicating that the song was too well known to require more.
It is one of the ballads that were parodied in " Ane compendious
booke of Godly and Spirituall Songs . . . with sundrie of other ballates,
chainged out of prophaine Songes, for avoiding of Sinne and Harlotrie " ;
printed in Edinburgh in 1590 and 1621. There are twenty-two stanzas
in the Godly Song ; the following are the two first : —
" Quho is at my windo ? quho, quho ?
Go from my windo ; go, go.
Quho callis thair, sa lyke a strangair?
Go from my windo, go.
Lord, I am heir, ane wretchit mortall,
That for thy mercy dois cry and call
Unto the, my Lord celestiall.
Se quho is at my windo, quho ? "
At the end of Heywood's The Rape of Lucrece a song is printed, begin-
ning—
" Begone, begone, my Willie, my Billie,
Begone, begone, my deere ;
The weather is warme, 'twill doe thee no harme,
Thou canst not be lodged here " ; —
which is also in Wit and Drollery, Jovial Poems, 1661, p. 25.
In Pills to purge Melancholy, 1707, vol. ii. 44, or 1719, vol. iv. 44, is
another version of that song, beginning, " Arise, arise, my juggy, my
puggy " ; but in both editions it is printed to the tune of " Good morrow,
'tis St. Valentine's day," and not to the original music.
L 2
148
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
THE SHEPHERD'S JOY,
OR
BARA FOSTUS DREAM.
With the first title in Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1666 ; The Advocates' Lib. MS. ;
Airs and Sonnets, MS., Trin. Coll., Dublin. With the second in the Fitzwilliam
Virginal Book ; Rossiter's Consort Lessons, 1609; and, with the addition of another
title—" Phoebus is langh over de Zee" — in Friesche Lust-Hof, 1621 ; Nederlandtschc
Gedenck-clanck, 1626 ; and Stichtelycke Rymen, 1647.
[*]
2. Love's warres make
i. Come sweet love,
the sweet- est . . peace,
let sor - row . . cease,
hearts u - nit - ing
Ban - ish frownes leave
a
-A±
[Moderate.}
i
r"
-^B±
J
m
-9
r r
-A=±
by con - ten - tion :
off dis - cen - tion :
4. Af - ter sor - row soone
3. Sun - shine fol - lows af
comes joy,
ter raine ;
f)
i 1 i
y k j — i — j
• — -1 -4—
—^ —3
^i — : u
hr
r-^d +—
in — i n
§* rr T
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^ P> •
l
, .r-Jj- J-- A
i i
4f>--3 •
n" ^~^ \
u J • "' ||
?-S^_.
\ —
— P* El 1
hZfeuXZ f-r
*
^ <
f r r i ^
Try me, prove me, trust me, love me, This will cure
Sorrowes ceas -ing, this is pleas -ing, All proves faire
an - noy.
a - gaine.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
149
Winter hides his frosty face,
Blushing now to be more viewed ;
Spring return'd with pleasant grace,
Floraes treasures are renued :
Lambes rejoyce to see the spring,
Skipping, leaping, sporting, playing,
Birds for joy do sing.
So let the spring of joy renue,
Laughing, colling, kissing, playing,
And give love his due.
See those bright sunnes of thine eyes,
Clouded now with black disdaining ;
Shall such stormy tempests rise,
To set love's faire dayes a raining :
All are glad the skies being cleare,
Lightly joying, sporting, toying,
With their lovely cheare :
But as sad to see a shower,
Sadly drooping, lowring, powting,
Turning sweet to sower.
Then sweet love dispearse this cloude
That obscures, this scornefull coying :
When each creature sings aloude,
Filing hearts with over joying.
As every bird doth choose her make,
Gently billing, she is willing
Her true love to take :
With such words let us contend,
[Laughing, colling, kissing, playing}
So our strife shall end.
UP, TAILS ALL.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Dancing Master, 1650.
This song, of which the original words are not known, is alluded to
in Sharpham's Fleire, 1610 : — " She every day sings John for the King,
and at Up, tails all she's perfect." Also in Ben Jonson's Every man out
of his humour ; in Beaumont and Fletcher's Coxcomb ; in Herrick's
Hesperides ; Vanbrugh's Provoked Wife, &c.
There are several political songs of the Cavaliers to this air — in the
King's Pamphlets (Brit. Mus.) ; in the Collection of Songs written
against the Rump Parliament ; in Rats rhimed to Death, 1660 ; and one
in Merry Drollery complete, 1670; but none of them are suitable for
republication. In both the editions of Pills to purge Melancholy,
1707 and 1719, the song of Up, tails all, beginning, "Fly, merry news,"
is printed by mistake with the title and tune of The Friar and the Nun.
150
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
DAPHNE.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book; Nederlandtsche Gedenck-clanck, 1626; Friesche
Lust-Hof, 1621, Forbes' Songs and Fancies > 1666, &c.
[*]
2 Her silk - en Scarfe scarce shaddowedher eyes, The God cried, O
i. When Daph - ne from faire Phos - bus did flie, the West winde most
j— fgjj — t
^
{Moderate^
.
N^5EE
is? — r
pi - tie, and held her in chace. I 4. Lion nor Ty - ger doth thee
sweet - ly did blow in her face. | 3. Stay Nimph, Stay Nimph,cryes A
rrr^ * r-rl
i
5=3
_ — MJ-_J_
r
r r
g-grrf
f
fol - low, Turne thy faire eyes and look . . this way.
pol • lo, Tar - ry and turn thee, sweet . . Nimph stay.
^
:•
^~TT'
r •
5. O turne
pret - tie sweet, And let our red lips meet : Pit -
O
ES
i i
*=c=±
J
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Daph - ne, pit -tie, O pit - ty me, Pit -tie, O Daph-ne, ph. - tie me.
-d- A ,
.A
-&-
rr
A
±
rr
d-
The words are from the original ballad in the Roxburghe Collection
(B.M.), vol. i., 388. They are also to be found in Deloney's Royal
Garland of Love and Delight, edition of 1674 ; and in Giles Earle's
Song-book, 1626 (B.M. Addl. MSS., 24,665).
MALTS COME DOWN.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Rounds and Catches for Three Voices,
Deu/eromelia, 1609.
WILLIAM BYRD.
j.
ri 77s* (^•-^^•^^i — pTp1 ^^
ffTTf
J-.S>. J. J
I
J^
~t
This is the plain statement of the tune given by Byrd in the
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, before proceeding to adorn it with nine
variations. Ravenscroft's version and the words he employs are as
follows : —
ms
i^i
- $
1. Mault's come downe, mault's come downe, from an old Angell
to a French crown.
2. There's never a maide in all this towne but well she knowes
that mault's come downe.
3. The greatest drunkards in this towne are very glad
that mault's come downe.
Ravenscroft's two other parts (one preceding the tune, and the other
following in the Round) are evidently added merely as harmony, and
contain nothing that could suggest the rest of the melody, if any more
ever existed. — ED.
152
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
LORD WILLOUGHBY, OR LORD WILLOUGHBY'S MARCH,
OR LORD WILLOUGHBY'S WELCOME HOME.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (there called "Rowland"); Jane Pickering's Lute
Book, B.M. Eg. MSS., 2,046, under the third title, also in Lady Neville's Virginal Book,
and in Robinson's Schoole of Mustek, 1603 ; Nederlandtsche Gedenck-danck, 1633
(there called " Soet Robbert," and " Soet, soet Robbertchen ").
WILLIAM BYRD.
J^i;j^:
Moderate.] j^^ |
The ballad of Lord Willoughby^ to be sung to the above tune, is in
the Roxburghe Collection. It begins as follows : —
" The fifteenth Day of July,
with glistering Spear and Shield,
A famous Fight in Flanders,
was foughten in the field ;
The most couragious Officers,
was English Captains three ;
But the bravest man in Battel
was brave Lord Willoughby.
The next was Captain Norris
a valiant Man was he ;
The other Captain Turner,
that from field would never flee ;
With fifteen hundred fighting Men,
alas, there was no more,
They fought with forty thousand then,
upon the bloody Shore."
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
153
MY ROBIN IS TO THE GREENWOOD GONE;
OR,
BONNY SWEET ROBIN.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book; B.M. Addl. MSS., 23,623 (a collection of virginal
music by Dr. John Bull, dated 1629) ; Jane Pickering's Lute Book, B.M. Eg. MSS.,
2,046 ; William Ballet's Lute Book, twice ; Anthony Holborne's Cittharn Schoole,
1597 ; Robinson's Schoole of Mtisicke, 1603, &c.
[*]
My Rob - in is
to
1 -J* -\ |
1 — ! H
j* i
^1-4-J-J
[Slow.]
J J
J. s I
f r r • J:
i J*J -J.
j ,
fl*)!->^ — js
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122 , .J? .,_
2GB
h-*^ ^
3§
atsrit
^rtg— H^
r
J^j
J 1
f
[For bon - ny sweet Rob - in is all ... my
joy.]
(i \ J
* *
•
\^J 9 • J
P* - ^-
E^-,— ^
* i ? r r r
_^ i J -J- J-
r r f-
/•^* «
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P Z--Z_3C
S>H • •!!
i^* /-^ T
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>< •jl
w f P
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The latter of the two versions given in William Ballet's Lute Book
is headed " Robin Hood is to the greenwood gone " ; it is possible, there-
fore, that the original ballad was a song of Robin Hood. Nothing more
is known of the words, unless the line sung by Ophelia in Hamlet, —
" For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy,"
should be part of them, which, indeed, seems very probable.
The ballad is referred to in Fletcher's Two Noble Kinsmen, where the
jailor's mad daughter says, " I can sing twenty more ... I can sing The
Broom and Bonny Robin"
54
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
There is also an allusion to it in a letter from Sir Walter Raleigh to
the Earl of Leicester in 1586, quoted by Motley in his History of the
Netherlands (vol. i., p. 459) : — " The Queen is in very good terms with
you now, and, thanks be to God, will be pacified, and you are again her
Sweet Robin."
A ballad of " A dolefull adieu to the last Erie of Darby, to the tune of
Bonny sweet Robin? was entered at Stationers' Hall to John Danter on
the 26th April, 1 593 ; and in The Crown Garland of Golden Roses is " A
courtly new ballad of the princely wooing of the fair Maid of London by
King Edward," beginning —
" Fair angel of England, thy beauty most bright " ;
as well as " The fair Maid of London's Answer," to the same tune. The
two last were also printed in black-letter by Henry Gosson, and are
reprinted in Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 8.
In " Good and true, fresh and new Christmas Carols," B.L., 1642,
there is a " Carol for St. Stephen's day : tune of Bonny sweet Robin?
beginning —
" Come, mad boys, be glad, boys, for Christmas is here,
And we shall be feasted with jolly good cheer," &c.
" Tyths of Ballads, or a newe Medley," beginning, " Robin is to the grene
gone, As I went to Walsingham," &c., was entered in the Stationers'
Registers, Sept. 3rd, 1604, to Symon Stafford.
THE LEAVES BE GREEN, OR BROWNING.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iii. 18 ;
B.M. Addl. MSS., 31,390 ; Deuteromelia, 1609.
The leaves ' be greene, the nuts ... be browne, They
- A
they will not . . come down.
g^S
A A
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
155
The Leaves be greene is the name given to this little tune in the
Virginal Book ; in the Cambridge MSS. it is called The Nutts be browne,
and in the British Museum MSS., Addl., SijSQO,1 and 32,461, the name is
Browninge. The few words given above with the tune are from the
MS. last mentioned, and I know of no others except those given by
Ravenscroft, whose version (in Deuteromelia) is as follows : —
[Canon.'}
2E3E
22 —
s — i
— s»
^—
^-L_
— <S> (S1
Ccb 2
,
1 1
Brown - ing Ma - dame, Brown - ing Ma - dame, So
L f3
ra
^_
—
(S? \-
t*^J
1
The fayr - est flower in gar - den greene Is
P
• r-
\ \ \ — '
{_
T r~-^
(^ * r
;
D
E
1
1 ' !
-
And with all . . . oth - ers com - pare she can, There -
2 5 P (* 1
* —
_ ^^
w—
1 1
— i 1
mer - ri - ly we sing Brown - ing Ma - dame,
t=r • r r =j
<^
^3 —
1 :C*£
-& \
C*L
in my love's breast full come - ly seene,
fore now let us sing
Brown - ing Ma
dame.
As to what is meant by Browning, or Browning Madame, I cannot
offer any conjecture. — ED.
1 This is a large folio MS. of the latter half
of the 1 6th century, entitled " In nomines and
other solfainge songs," &c. It contains a
great number of compositions, without words ;
and the parts are so arranged that the singers,
sitting round a table, might all sing from the
same book. There are three settings of the
above tune, in all of which some one or other
of the voices is continually singing the melody,
while the others descant upon it. In two of
the settings, those by Stoninges and Wood-
cocke, the tune is called "Browninge my
dere " ; in the third, by Byrd, it is called
" The leaves be green."
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[*]
IN SAD AND ASHY WEEDS.
Sir J. Hawkins' Transcripts of Virginal Music.
2. My Gates and yel - low reeds, I now to Jeat and E - bon turne.
i. In sad and ash - y weeds, I sigh I pine I grieve I mourne
3. My ur - ged eyes like win - ter skies my fur - rowed cheekes ore- flow,
-9 h
— 1~
n H— h
1
i i
8223
] *
^=H
— 1,_ .,..!
—ri"
J-
j . j j-
—
j
r
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I
f
1
^-: —
C3 C^
u£3 f^
^
£2
—, t^J
1
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tr^5
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r^ f^)
f
r— -.
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Allheavenknoweswhy men mourne as I, and who can blame my woe.
In sable robes of night,
My daies of joy appareld be,
My sorrowes see no light,
my light through sorrowes nothing see,
For now my Sunne
His date hath run,
and from his Sphere doth goe,
To endlesse bed
of Folded Lead
and who can blame my woe ?
My flockes I now forsake,
That silly sheepe my griefes may know,
and Lillies loath to take
that since his fall presum'd to grow :
I envy aire,
Because it dare
still breathe, and he not so :
Hate earth that doth
Intombe his youth,
and who can blame my woe ?
The words are from the original ballad, printed in The Crowne Garland
of Golden Roses, edition of 1631, and entitled "The good Shepherd's
Sorrow for the death of his beloved Sonne. To an excellent new tune'.'
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
157
DAPHNE AND CORYDON.
Jane Pickering's Lute Book ; the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (there called Tell me,
Daphne] ; a MS. of Virginal Music formerly belonging to Dr. Rimbault (there called
Go no more a-mshing).
[*] ( WILL y.)
How now shepard what meanes that, whie werste willowe in thine halt ?
i
^EE^N;
S
3b*=£
gEEgEEEEB
^gzgpL^ H
r
fcrf.]
r
~
p
are Mz scarffs oj
teid=*
— I R— I-
ki
yellow changd to . . branches of greene willow ?
=1-
±=Z
IP
r
jtiztrp
T"rc:rr:
__ ii_ _ .
"tS —
:}=Lg— E^ PZI
(C^.DZ'F.)
Thaie are changd and soe atne /, sorrow lives but joies doe
-t-d
zb=zjz=
Jl <^-^=
I ^ /r?-
l^r
{
^
J.
V£y wj Phil I 'tis on - lie
makes me weare this willow tree.
^=$r
r
&
L LJrE g^-J:
[The words of Daphne and Cory don, or 7>// ;^, Daphne, are not
known, but the tune is obviously intended for a dialogue ; and since its
structure so closely resembles that of the following tune I have printed
them together, and would suggest that the same words may serve for
both.— ED.]
158
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
WILLY AND CUDDY.
B.M. Addl. MSS., 29,481. MS., 1639, in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh; the
Skene MS.; Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1666, &c.
[*] [WILLY.]
How now shep-ard what meanes that, vvhiewerste wil-lowe in thine hatt,
I _ , _ i i
r r r
P> !
[Fas/.]
;UU^
5 xf i <^>g^
r i
j J J
t — re
are thi scarffs of red and yel - low changd tobranch-es of greene wil- low,
JC ^j S d^ J
1 ^ J d I
I & ^ ^
eJ 35
\-9^-i--
S2 ^ ^ ^
^ — ' f-> _
\ . /^^ r^j
j ip^r'ri 'u
^. J-J. j J. ^ .^^4^. A A
^~*^ .*^^ ^L/ ^^^r >^-^ /T-*^ ^— \*rr~-^
sss
<h-^r {* — ) ''^3
i — — r3
_
^ -^ J(1^— , /^^
- p^ 1—
II1
. i — i —
[CUDDY.]
Thaie are changd and soe ame I,
_L
^_J ^ ^ \J7*=3=™
sor - row lives but joies doe die :
m
j-^-j-<*
-&-
-r
r r r r r r
A A A II
fe
-zd-
£
1 — r-
tis my Phill 'tis on - lie she, makes me weare this wil - low tree.
£5 — i — . J J | J ^J ^
i J J J
=£
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
159
WILLY.
What that Phill that lov'd the longe,
is it shee hath done the wronge ;
Shee that lov'd thee longe and beste,
is her love now turn'd to jest.
CUDDY.
She that lov'd me longe and beste,
bidde me set my hart at rest ;
She a new love loves not me,
make me weare this willow tree.
WILLY.
Come then shepard let us joine,
for thy hap is like to mine ;
for even shee I thought most true,
now hath chang'd me for a new.
CUDDY.
Herdman if thi hap be soe,
thou art partner of my woe ;
thine ill hap doth myne appease,
companie dothe sorrow ease,
WILLY.
Shepard be advise by me,
cast of greeffe and willow tree ;
for thi greeffe breeds her content,
she is plesd if thou lamente.
CUDDY.
Herdman ile be rul'd by thee,
there lie greeffe and willow tree ;
& henceforth ile doe as thay,
love a new love everie daye.
In The Golden Garland of Princely Delights, 3rd edit, 1620, this song
is entitled "The Shepherd's Dialogue of Love between Willy and
Cuddy : To the tune of Maying-timer It is also in Dryden's Miscellany
Poems, vi. 337, and in Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry. Percy entitles
it "The Willow Tree : a Pastoral Dialogue."
HANSKIN, OR JOG ON, OR EIGHTY-EIGHT.
With the first title in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; with the second in the Dancing
Master^ 1650, &c. ; with the third in Pills to purge Melancholy, 1707, &c.
[*]
Jog on, jog on, the foot . . pathway, and mer - ri- ly hent the stile a : Your
mer- ry heart goes all ... the day, your sad . . tires in . . .a mile
Cast care away, let sorrow cease,
A fig for melancholy ;
Let's laugh and sing, or, if you please,
We'll frolic with sweet Dolly.
Your paltry money-bags of gold,
What need have we to stare for ;
When little or nothing soon is told,
And we have the less to care for.
i6o
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
The words — of which the first stanza is sung by Autolycus in
A Winter's Tale, act iv., sc. 2 — are here given from The Antidote against
Melancholy, 1661, no earlier copy of the last two stanzas being known.
The words of Hanskin, if any existed, are not known at all.
In the Westminster Drollery, 3rd edit., 1672, is " An old song on the
Spanish Armado," beginning, "Some years of late, in eighty-eight";
and in MSS. Harl., 791, fol. 59, and in Merry Drollery complete, 1661, a
different version of the same, commencing, " In eighty-eight, ere I was
born." Both have been reprinted for the Percy Society in Halliwell's
Naval Ballads of England. The former is also in Pills to purge
Melancholy, 1707, ii. 37, and 1719, iv. 37 ; or Ritson's Ancient Songs, 1790,
p. 271.
In the Collection of Ballads in the Cheetham Library, Manchester,
fol. 30, is " The Catholick Ballad, or an Invitation to Popery, upon con-
siderable grounds and reasons, to the tune of Eighty-eight" 1 It is in
black-letter, with a bad copy of the tune, and another (No. 1,103), dated
1674. It will also be found in the Roxburghe Collection, and in Pills to
purge Melancholy, 1707, ii. 32, or 1719, iv. 32. This song attained some
popularity, because others are found to the tune of The Catholic Ballad.
DULCINA.
[*]
I.
Giles Earle's Song Book, 1626, B.M. Addl. MSS., 24,665.
As att noone Dal - ci - na rest - ed, in a sweete and sha - die bower,
fefe-=t=j J- J
-3~±- =r
— ** — *—
-* — jf ^ — ^ —
^K * * * '
^ r r -i
[Moderate^
f r / -,J
J j j i
• • • r
-J- j &+
'—-H — T r
JL .ML A ;
p-r, y1 r K ^ 1
l_r ? H
-*^p
^ r r i — F— '
! r !
Lp T r r
^^-^-
Came a shep - pard and re - quest-ed in her lap to sleepe an hour.
r r r
sM
/TN
t^E
^
4'J
£
1 Written by Walter Pope, M.A., F.R.S., and Fellow of Wadham College, and printed 1678.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
161
But from her looke, a wound he tooke,soe deepe that for a . . farther boone
TheNimphehee pray'd,whereto she say 'd, for - goe mee nowe, come . to mee soone.
But in vaine shee did conjure him, for to leave her presence soe,
Havinge a thousand meanes t' alure him, & but one to lett him goe.
Where lipps delighte & eyes invite, & cheeks as fresh as rose in June
Persuade to staie, what bootes to saye, forgoe me nowe, come to mee soone.
There is a reference to this song in Walton's Angler, where the
Milkwoman says — " What song was it, I pray you ? Was it * Come,
Shepherds, deck your heads,' or ' As at noon Dulcina rested ' ? " &c.
The earliest mention of it is in the registers of the Stationers' Com-
pany, where, under the date of May 22nd, 1615, there is a record of its
transfer from one printer to another.
Many ballads were sung to the tune ; among them one in the Rox-
burghe Collection, i. 80, "made upon the posie of a ring, being ( I fancie
none but thee alone,' sent as a new year's gift by a lover to his
sweetheart." It begins :
" Thou that art so sweet a creature, that above all earthly joy,
I thee deeme for thy rare feature, kill me not by seeming coy.
Nor be thou mute, when this my suite, into thy eares by love is blowne ;
But say by me, as I by thee, I fancie none but thee alone."
There are six stanzas. The maiden follows, at the same length,
and begins thus : —
" Deare, I have received thy token, and with it thy faithful love ;
Prithee let no more be spoken, I to thee will constant prove.
Do not despaire, nor live in care, for her who vowes to be thy owne ;
Though I seem strange, I will not change, I fancie none but thee alone."
Dulcina was one of the tunes adopted in " Psalmes and Songs of Sion ;
turned into the language and set to the tunes of a strange land," 1642.
M
1 62
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[The famous song, " The Mad-merry Pranks of Robbin Goodfellow,"
was, at its first appearance and for many years afterwards, sung to the
above tune ; but after the Restoration a new one appeared (though
still with the old name), which was better suited to the words, and has
always since been associated with them. — ED.]
II.
Pills to purge Melancholy, Vol. vi., 1720.
[s|c] From 0 - be- ron in Fai - ry Land, the king of Ghosts and shad - owes there ;
0 ^ 1 -— jp ^ 0~
.^_j_j_ ±± ±_&AA^
Mad Rob-bin I at his com-mancl, am sent to view the night-sports here,
h
i i r"T
j. J. J j J- J. J- j J- J- J- J- j ,
I
What revell rout is kept a - bout, in ev - ery cor - ner where I goe ;
k * ,
*~
J.J-4_4__ '
I will ore see, and mer - ry be, And make good sport with ho ho ho.
J- J- J- J V -^ J- - - - J- J- J J
zgpucsBz:
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
163
More swift than lightning can I flye,
and round about this ayrie welkin soone ;
And in a minutes space descry
each thing that's done beneath the
Moone.
There's not a Hag,
nor Ghost shall wag,
Nor cry Goblin where I do goe ;
But Robin I
their feats will spy,
And feare them home with ho ho ho.
From Hag-bred Merliris time have I
thus nightly reveld to and fro ;
And for my pranks men call me by
the name of Robin Goodfellow.
Fiends, Ghosts and Sprites,
that haunt the nights,
The Hags and Goblins doe me know ;
And beldames old
my feats have told,
So vale, vale, ho ho ho.
The ballads afterwards composed to be sung to the tune (now Robin
Goodfellow) were, as might be supposed from the character of the melody,
chiefly humorous or jovial. Such, for instance, were " The Downfall of
Dancing ; or, The Overthrow of Three Fiddlers and Three Bagpipers,"
&c., in the Douce and Pepys Collections, and a seventeenth-century
drinking song, " Some say drinking does disguise men," printed in Tirall
Poetry, 4to, 1813.
ROSAMOND
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. ix. 33.
Sweet youth - ful charming la - dies fair, framed in the pu-rest mould: With
i i
ro - sy cheeks and silk - en hair, which shine like threads of gold.
/Ov
M 2
1 64
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Soft tears of pi - ty here be - stow, on the un - hap - py fate : Of
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[This ballad, which is exceedingly long (containing twenty-six stanzas
of eight lines), is to be found in Evans' Collection, 1784, vol. i., p. 58, I
give three more stanzas, describing Rosamond's death.
Alas ! it was no small surprise
To Rosamond the fair ;
When death appear'd before her eyes.
No faithful friend was there,
Who could stand up in her defence,
To put the potion by ;
So by the hands of violence,
CompelFd she was to die.
0 most renowned, gracious queen,
Compassion take of me ;
1 wish that I had never seen
Such royal dignity.
Betray'd I was, and by degrees
A sad consent I gave ;
And now upon my bended knees,
I do your pardon crave.
I will not pardon you, she cry'd,
So take this fatal cup :
And you may well be satisfy'd,
I'll see you drink it up.
Then with her fair and milk-white hand
The fatal cup she took ;
W'hich, being drank, she could not stand.
But soon the world forsook.
The version of the tune given above is from the Cambridge Lute
MSS. ; but it must be mentioned that the melody is there so disguised
with ornament as to be hardly distinguishable, It was necessary,
however, that an attempt to recover it should be made, as the MSS.
(written probably between 1600 and 1620) are of so much earlier date
than the first edition of the Dancing Master (1650), from which the tune
given in the former edition of this work was taken. It seems clear that
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
I65
the lute version does not contain the Dancing Master tune, and I believe
the tune as I have given it is what the lutenist meant to express ; but
the difficulties of the case were so considerable that my reading can
only be offered subject to all reserve.
The Dancing Master tune here follows below, with Sir George Mac-
farren's accompaniment from the former edition. — ED.]
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c., there called " Confesse," and in later editions
" Confesse, or the Court Lady."
M.
Sweet, youth-ful,charm-ing la - dies fair, Fram'd of the pu - rest mould, With
ro - sy cheeks and silk - en hair/ Which shine like threads of gold j Soft
t=
tears of pi - ty here be
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i66
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
SHEPHERD, SAW THOU NOT, OR CRIMSON VELVET.
Frieschc Lust-Hof, 1621 ; Forbes* Songs mmd Fancies^ 1666.
2. She is gone this way,
I. Shep -herd saw thou not,
to Di - an - aes foun - tain, And hath
my fair love - ly Phy - lis, Walk - ing
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
I67
know none o - ther, That can ease me of my smart,
love hath slain me, Gen - tie Shep - herd play a part,
i
Thus I do dispair, love her I shall never,
If she be so coy, lost is all my love :
But she is so fair, I will love her ever,
All my pain is joy, which for her I prove.
If I should her love, and she should deny,
Heavy heart with me would break :
Though against my will, tongue thou must
be still
For she will not hear thee speak :
Then with kisses move her,
They shall shew I love her ;
Lovely Love, be thou my guide
But I'll sore complain me,
She will still disdain me ;
Beauty is so full of pride.
The words given above are printed with the tune in Forbes' Songs
and Fancies ; in Friesche Lust-Hofii is called " 'Twas a youthful Knight,
which loved a galjant Lady," which is the first line of the ballad of
" Constance of Cleveland : to the tune of Crimson Velvet." This ballad
is in the Roxburghe Collection, iii. 94, and in the Pepys Collection, i. 138,
and i. 476. It was registered in 1603.
The ballad referred to as Crimson Velvet is also known as In the days
of old, which is its first line. It relates the history of a princess
forsaking her rank to marry a forester, whom she keeps for a time in
ignorance of her former position. The forester, discovering the truth
after many years, reveals their situation to the king in the following
manner. He places himself and his family in the king's way ; his wife
being dressed in a costume suitable to her birth, his children in garments
of which the right side was of cloth of gold and the left of woollen,
himself in grey.
" The children there did stand,
As their mother willed,
Where the royal king
Must of force come by.
Their mother richly clad
In fair Crimson Velvel,
Their father all in gray,
Most comely to the eye.
There are copies of this ballad in the Roxburghe, Bagford, and Pepys
Collections, and it was reprinted in The Garland of Good-will. It is also
to be found in Percy's Reliques.
i68
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Among the ballads sung to the tune are —
" The lamentable complaint of Queen Mary, for the unkind departure
of King Philip, in whose absence she fell sick and died ;" beginning —
" Mary doth complain,
Ladies, be you moved
With my lamentations
And my bitter groans," &c.
A copy of this is in The Crown Garland of Golden Roses (reprint of
edition of 1659, p. 69).
" Rochelle, her yielding to the obedience of the French King, on the
28th October, 1628, after a long siege by land and sea, in great penury
and want. To the tune of In the days of old" It begins, " You that true
Christians be." There is a copy in the Pepys Collection, i. 96, signed M.
Parker.
COME, SHEPHERDS, DECK YOUR HEADS.
I.
Friesche Lust-Hof, 1621 ; Nederlandtsche Gedenck-Clanck, 1625.
[#] Come shep-herds deck your heads no more with bays but wil-lows, For-
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THE EARLIER BALLADS. 169
shep • herd ne - ver lost - - - so plain a deal - ing woman.
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Bellerophon, of Lust tot Wysheyt, Amsterdam, 1622 ; Gesangh der Zeeden,
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
This is another of the songs mentioned by Isaak Walton, — " Was it
' Come, shepherds, deck your heads ' ? " &c.
The words will be found in the Pepys Collection, i. 366, entitled
" The Shepherd's Lamentation : to the tune of The plaine-dealing
Woman'' On the other half of the sheet is " The second part of The
plaine-dealing Woman" beginning —
" Ye Sylvan Nymphs, come skip it," &c.
Imprinted at London for J. W. Sir Harris Nicolas prints the song,
Come, shepherds, in his edition of Walton's Angler, from a MS.
formerly in the possession of Mr. Heber. A third copy will be found in
MSS. Ashmole, No. 38, art. 164.
THE FAIREST NYMPH THE VALLEYS.
Friesche Lust-Hof, 1634 ; Sir J. Hawkins' transcripts ; Urania, Amsterdam, 1663,
(there called " Gravesande ").
[*]
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i. The fair - estNimph the val - lies, or moun-taines ev - er bred: The
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for her sake sweet round-e-layes did make,ad - mir'd of ru - rail swaines.
shep-heard's joy soe beau- ti- full and coy, faire Phil - li - da is dead.
But cruell fates the gra - ces en - vy - ing, of this bloom - ing
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 171
rose nowe read - y to dis - close: With a frost un-time - ly,
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Diana was chief mourner
at theis sad obsequies,
who with her trayne,
. went tripping o're the plaine,
singing doleful elegies.
Menalchas and Amintas,
with many shepheards moe,
whoe did desire
unto her love t' aspire,
in sable sad did goe.
Flora, the goddesse that us'd to beautifie
Phillis daintie bowers
with sweete and fragrant flowers,
now her brave adorninge,
and her flowers mourninge,
teares thereon in vaine shee showers.
Venus alone triumphed
to see this dismal) day,
as in dispaire
that Phillida the faire
her lawes would not obey.
The blinded god his arrowes
& shaftes in vaine had spent ;
her heart alas !
impenetrable was,
nor would to love assent.
At which affronts, Cytherea repining,
caused death with his dart
to peirce her tender heart :
but her noble spirit
doth those joyes inherit
Which never more shall depart.
The words here given are from Giles Earle's Song-book, but a copy
of the ballad will be found in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 330, entitled
" The Obsequy of Faire Phillida ; with the Shepherds' and Nymphs'
Lamentation for the losse. To a new Court tune." The tune is one of
those directed to be sung to the " Psalmes or Songs of Zion," &c., by
Slatyer, 1642.
172
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
WHEN PHCEBUS ADDREST.
Friestfte Lust-Hof (Boertigheden\ 1634, there called " O doe not, doe not kil me yet."
[*]
2. And Cynthia a-greed, in her glittering weed, Her light in his stead to be - stow. . . .
I. When Phoebus add rest his course to the West, To take up his rest be - low ; . . .
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The above words are from Merry Drollery Complete, 1661.
In the Pepys Collection, i. 186, and Roxburghe, i. 24, is a ballad
entitled "A Pleasant Countrey New Ditty : merrily shewing how to drive
the cold winter away. To the tune of When P/icebus did rest" which
begins as follows : —
" All hayle to the dayes
That merite more praise
Than all the rest of the yeare :
And welcome the nights
That double delights,
As well the poore as the Peere :
" Good fortune attend
Each merry man's friend,
That doth but the best that he may
Forgetting old wrongs
With Carrols and songs,
To drill e the cold winter away.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
173
" Let misery packe,
With a whip at his backe,
To the deep Tantalian flood :
In the Lethe profound
Let envy be drown'd
That pines at another man's good.
" Let sorrowes expence
Be banded from hence,
All payments of griefe delay :
And wholly consort
With mirth and with sport,
To drive the cold winter away,"
In The Dancing Master of 1650 appears for the first time a tune
called Drive the cold winter away, which, it may be supposed, had by this
time superseded the older one.
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This tune is in every edition of The Dancing Master ; in Mustek's
Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; and in Walsh's Dancing Master ; also in
both editions of Pills to purge Melancholy ', with an abbreviated copy of
the words.
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 518, is a ballad entitled "Hang
pinching ; or, The good fellow's observation 'mongst a jovial crew, of
them that hate flinching, but are always true blue. To the tune of
Drive the cold ivinter away " ; commencing —
" All you that lay claim to a good fellow's name,
And yet do not prove yourselves so," &c.
It is subscribed W. B., and printed for Thomas Lambert,1 at the sign
of the Horse Shoe, in Smithfield.
In the Pepys Collection, i. 362, is another black-letter ballad, entitled
" The father hath beguil'd the son : Or a wonderful tragedy which lately
befell in Wiltshire, as many men know full well : to the tune of Drive
the cold winter away" ; beginning —
1 Lambert was a printer of the reigns of James and Charles I.
174
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
" I often have known, and experience hath shown,
That a spokesman hath wooed for himself," £c.
Other ballads to the tune will be found in the Roxburghe Collection,
i. 150 and 160, &c. ; in the King's Pamphlets, and in the Collection of
Songs against the Rump Parliament ; in Wright's Political Songs ; in
Mock Songs, 1675 ; in Evans' Collection, i. 349, &c.
I HAVE WAKED THE WINTER'S NIGHTS.
Fries che Lttst-Hof, 1634.
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[No song with this title has yet been discovered. — Ed.]
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
175
TOM A BEDLAM.
MS. of Virginal Music in the possession of Dr. Rimbault ; Mustek's Delight on
the Cithren, 1666, &c.
| s|c] 2. That of your five sound sen- ses, you ne - ver be for - sa - ken : Nor
I. From the hagg and hun-grie Gob-lin, that in - to raggs would rend yee: And the
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Of thirty bare years have I twice twenty bin enraged,
And of forty bin three tymes fifteone in durance soundlie caged :
On the lordlie lofts of Bedlam, with stubble softe and dainty,
Brave braceletts strong, sweet whips ding dong, and wholesome hunger plenty.
And now I sing any foode, any feedinge, feedinge, drinke or clothing :
Come dame or maid, be not afraid, poore Tom will injure nothing.
1/6 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
The above words are taken from Giles Earle's Song-book, 1626
(B.M. Addl. MSS., 24,665) ; but they have been printed in Le Prince
d' Amour, 1660, where will also be found another song, with the same
name1 and in the same measure, which begins, " From the top of high
Caucasus, to Paul's Wharf near the Tower " ; and Bishop Corbet's Dis-
tracted Puritan — " Am I mad, most noble Festus ? " — which is directed
to be sung to this tune.
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 42, there is a song on the tricks and
disguises of beggars, entitled " The Cunning Northerne Begger : —
'Who all the bystanders doth earnestly pray,
To bestow a penny upon him to-day : '
to the tune of Tom of Bedlam'' The first stanza is as follows :
" I am a lusty begger, Yet, though I'm bare,
And live by others giving ; I'm free from care,
I scorne to worke, A fig for high preferments, [good sir.
But by the highway lurke, But still will I cry, ' Good, your worship,
And beg to get my living. Bestow one poor denier, sir;
I'll i' th' wind and weather, Which, when Pise got,
And weare all ragged garments ! At the pipe and the pot,
I soon will it cashier, sir' "
This copy of the ballad was printed " at London " for F. Coules, and
may be dated as of the reign of James or Charles I,
1 Bishop Percy has remarked that "the And, with this horrible object, from low farms,
English have more songs on the subject of Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills,
madness, than any of their neighbours." For Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with
this the following reason has been assigned by prayer,
Mr. Payne Collier, in a note to Dodsley's Col- Inforce their charity.'
lection of Old Plays, ii. 4 : — In Dekker's Bellman of London, 1616, all
' ' After the dissolution of the religious houses the different species of beggars are enumerated,
where the poor of every denomination were Amongst the rest are mentioned Tom of Bed-
provided for, there was for many years no lam's band of mad caps, otherwise called Poor
settled or fixed provision made to supply the Tom's flock of wild geese (whom here thou
want of that care which those bodies appear seest by his black and blue naked arms to be a
always to have taken of their distressed breth- man beaten to the world), and those wild
ren. In consequence of this neglect, the idle geese, or hair-brains, are called Abraham men.
and dissolute were suffered to wander about An Abraham man is afterwards described in
the country, assuming such characters as they this manner : ' Of all the mad rascals (that are
imagined were most likelv to ensure success to of this wing) the Abraham man is the most
their frauds, and security from detection. fantastick. The fellow (quoth this old Lady of
Among other disguises, many affected madness, the Lake unto me) that sate half naked (at
and were distinguished by the name of Bedlam table to-day) from the girdle upward, is the
Beggars. These are mentioned by Edgar, in best Abraham man that ever came to my house,
King Lear : — and the notablest villain : he swears he hath
The countiy gives me proof and precedent, been in Bedlam, and will talk frantickly of
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, purpose : you see pins stuck in sundry places
Stick in their numb'd and mortify'd bare arms of his naked flesh, especially in his arms, which
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary; pain he gladly puts himself to (being, indeed,
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 177
In Wit and Drollery, 1656 (p. 126), there is another Tom of Bedlam,
beginning —
" Forth from the Elysian fields, a place of restless souls,
Mad Maudlin is come to seek her naked Tom,
Hell's fury she controls," &c.
This is printed in an altered form, and with an imperfect copy of the
tune, in Pills to purge Melancholy, ii. 192 (1700 and 1707), under the title
of" Mad Maudlin to find out Tom of Bedlam."
" To find my Tom of Bedlam, ten thousand years I'll travel ;
Mad Maudlin goes, with dirty toes, to save her shoes from gravel.
Yet will I sing, Bonny boys, bonny mad boys, Bedlam boys are bonny ;
They still go bare, and live by the air, and want no drink nor money?
The tune is again printed in Pills to purge Melancholy ', iii. 13 (1707), to a
song " On Dr. G[ill ?], formerly master of St. Paul's School," com-
mencing—
" In Paul's Churchyard in London,
There dwells a noble firker,
Take heed, you that pass,
Lest you taste of his lash,
For I have found him a jerkcr :
Still doth he cry, take him up, take him up, sir,
Untruss with expedition;
O the birchen tool
Which he winds in the school
Frights worse than the Inquisition"
In Loyal Songs written against the Rump Parliament, 1731, ii. 272,
we have " The cock-crowing at the approach of a Free Parliament ; or —
Good news in a ballat A country wit made it,
More sweet to your pallat Who ne'er got the trade yet,
Than fig, raisin, or stewed prune is : And Mad Tom of Bedlam the tune is."
Among the King's Pamphlets in the British Museum there are two
songs to this tune. The first (by a loyal Cavalier) is " Mad Tom a
no torment at all, his skin is either so dead some will dance ; others will do nothing but
with some foul disease, or so hardened with either laugh or weep ; others are dogged, and
weather, only to make you believe he is out of are sullen both in look and speech, that, spy-
his wits) : he calls himself by the name of Poor ing but a small company in a house, they
Tom, and coming near any body, cries out, boldly and bluntly enter, compelling the ser-
Poor Tom is a cold. Of these Abraham men, vants through fear to give them what they
some be exceeding merry, and do nothing but demand, which is commonly Bacon, or some-
sing songs, fashioned out of their own brains ; thing that will yield ready money.' "
N
17$ THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Bedlam's desires of Peace : Or his Benedicities for distracted England's
Restauration to her wits again. By a constant though unjust sufferer
(now in prison) for His Majesties just Regality and his Country's Liberty.
S.F.W.B." (Sir Francis Wortley, Bart). This is in the sixth vol. of
folio broadsides, and dated June 27th, 1648.
" Poor Tom hath been imprison'd, Yet still he cries for the King, for the good
With strange oppressions vexed ; Tom loves brave confessors ; [King ;
He dares boldly say, they try'd each way But he curses those that dare their King
Wherewith Job was perplexed. depose,
Committees and oppressors," &c.
This has been reprinted in Wright's Political Ballads for the Percy
Society, p. 102 ; and in the same volume, p. 183, is another, taken from
the fifteenth vol. of broadsides, entitled " A New Ballade, to an old tune
— Tom of Bedlam" dated January I7th, 1659, and commencing, " Make
room for an honest red-coat" This is also to be found in Rats rhimed
to Death, 1660.
Besides these, we have, in Wit and Drollery, 1682, p. 184, Loving
Mad Tom, commencing, " I'll bark against the dog-star " ; The Blind
Beggar, beginning, " I am a rogue, and a stout one," in the same collec-
tion, ed. 1782, p. 74; The Oakerman, beginning, " The star that shines
by daylight" (Westminster Drollery, Part ii., 1671); "Tobacco's a
musician and in a pipe delighteth " (Nicholls' Progresses, or Rimbault's
Little Book of Songs and Ballads, p. 175) ; " All in the Land of Essex "
(Sir John Denman's Poems, 1671) ; and The Zealous Puritan — " My
brethren all attend " (Loyal Songs, vol. i., p. 4).
This tune had several other names, two of which were Fly Brass and
The Jovial Tinker. In the Pepys' Collection, i. 460, is " A pleasant
new songe of a joviall Tinker, to a pleasant new tune called Fly
Brasse" It is in ten-line stanzas, and commences, " There was a
joviall tinker." In the same volume, and immediately preceding it, is
" The famous Rat-Ketcher, with his travels into France, and his return
to London : To the tune of The Joviall Tinker'' It commences,
" There was a rare rat-catcher." Both were " imprinted by John
Trundle," and the latter when he lived " at the signe of the Nobody in
Barbican."
The song of Tom of Bedlam is alluded to in Ben Jonson's The Devil
is an Ass, 1616, act v., sc. 2. When Pug wishes to be thought mad, he
says, " Your best song's Thorn o' Bet'lem."
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
179
GRAY'S INN MASQUE, OR MAD TOM, OR NEW MAD
TOM OF BEDLAM.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; B.M. Addl. MSS., 10,444 : Playford's Antidote
against Melancholy, 1669, and Choice Ay res, 1675; Penelope (Ballad Opera), 1720;
The Bay's Opera, 1730.
[*]
2. Feare and dispaire do pur-sue my soule,hark how the an - gry fu - ries howle,
i. From forth my sad anddarkesome sell, from the deepe a - biss of hell, Mad
[Slow.}
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Tom is come to view the world againe, to se if he cann ease his distempared braine j
TTT*
Through the woods I wan - der night and day, to find my strag- ling sen - ses :
In an angrie moode I met olde Time,withawhippfor myne of - fen - ces.
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l8o THE EARLIER BALLADS,
When he mee spies, a - way he flyes, for Time will stay for no man ; With
hid-deous cries, I rende the skies, how pit - ty is not com - mon.
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
181
Boare be - gines to bris - tie. Come Vul - kin with tooles and with tac- kles, and
I
knocke of my
trou - blesome shack-les ; Bid Charles make red - dy his
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wame, to
[This tune, as its first name implies, was used to accompany a suite
of dances in a Masque ; 1 but whether it was originally composed for that
purpose, or as a song, we have no means of knowing at present.
Although there is no earlier version of the tune than that of The
Dancing Master of 1650, both tune and words must be considerably
older ; since one of the ballads, directed to be sung to the tune of Mad
Tom, and which is in the same measure as the song given above, adds
to the direction — " as it was lately sung at the Curtain, Holywell " ; and
1 It was formerly the custom of gentlemen
of the Inns of Court to hold revels four times
a year, and to represent masques and plays in
their own halls, or elsewhere. A curious
letter on the subject of a masque, which for
some unexplained reason did not take place,
may be seen in Collier's History of Early Dra-
matic Poetry and Annals of the Stage, vol. i.,
p. 268, It is addressed to Lord Purghley by
' ' Mr. Frauncis Bacon " (afterwards Lord
Bacon), who in 1588 discharged the office of
Reader of Gray's Inn. Many curious par-
ticulars of their masques may be found in
the same work, and some in Sir J. Hawkins'
History of Music. For the Christmas revels
of the Bar, see Mr. Payne Collier's note to
Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. vii., p. 311.
1 8.2 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
the Curtain Theatre would appear to have been already in disuse in
1625. Mr. Collier, in a note to Heber's catalogue, even gives the date of
one of the performances of the tune at that theatre as " about 1610."
These facts add considerably to the difficulty of deciding upon a
proper version. For while the earliest printed copy, that of 1650, and
the British Museum MS., which is of about the same date, both give the
tune in the scale of D, with an open signature, and with no chromatic
alteration of notes — although some accidentals are clearly necessary, — in
the second edition of The Dancing Master, printed in 1652, it appears with
many more chromatic signs than are at all likely to have been found in
a composition made before 1610. Moreover, chromatic signs have been
added in the British Museum MS. by a later hand, and not always to
the same notes as in The Dancing Master. The uncertain and tran-
sitional condition of seventeenth century music, however, was a sufficient
reason, in my opinion, for not attempting a restoration of the original
form of tune ; and I have therefore combined the suggestions of the
MS. and the printed version of The Dancing Master of 1652 in what
seemed the most reasonable manner.1 — ED.]
The authorship of the music of this song has been ascribed sometimes
to Henry Lawes, and sometimes to Purcell. Walsh included it in a
collection of " Mr. Henry Purcell's Favourite Songs, out of his most
celebrated Orpheus Britannicus, and the rest of his works " ; but it is
not contained in the Orpheus Britannicus (which was published by
Purcell's widow), and the music may still be seen as printed eight years
before Purcell's birth. The suggestion of Lawes is due to Hawkins,
who, in a note upon a passage already given from Walton's Angler,
quotes Choice Ayres, 1675, and Play ford's Antidote against Melancholy,
1669. Lawes, however, is not said to be the author in either of
these books, nor does the song occur in any printed collection of his
works.
The words given above with the tune are from a small collection of
songs, forming part of Harl. MSS. 7,332, and made by one Feargod
Barbon, or Barebone, whose handwriting is of the character of the early
years of this century.
1 The directions Slow and Fast, which, I the progress of a composition. Its technical
believe, are not generally to be found in modern name was " the retorted mood," and it is de-
versions, are in accordance with the signs of fined by Morley {Introduction to Practicall
time existing in all the old copies. There, at Mustek) as "a Moode of imperfect time set
the places which I have marked Fast, the sign backeward, signifying that the Notes before
^) occurs ; and this in sixteenth century music which it is set must be sung as fast againe as
was the most usual sign of diminution during they were before." — ED.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
183
TROY TOWN.
Cheerful Ay res or Ballad* ; first composed for a single voice, and since set for three
voices. By John Wilson, Dr. in Mustek, Professor of the same in the University of
Oxford. Oxford, 1660. Playford's Musical Companion, 1673 > Pills to purge Melan-
choly, iii. 15, 1707, and iv. 266, 1729 ; &c.
When Troy town for ten years wars, with -stood the Greeks in man - ful wise;
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Waste lie those walls that were so good, and corn now grows where Troy town stood.
j i L
[This can hardly be the original tune, since Wilson, its composer, was
not born till 1594, and the ballad, under the name of The Wandering
Prince of Troy, was entered in the Stationers' Register in 1603.
In Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1666 (a collection which has supplied
many tunes to this work, most of which are considerably older than the
publication itself), is a song, beginning " When as the Greeks did enter-
prise," upon the subject of the Trojan War ; and as the tune is more
ancient in character than Wilson's, and the measure similar to that of
the ballad of Troy Town, I think it not impossible that it may be the
original, and on that ground give it here. It is as follows : —
1 84
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
WHEN AS THE GREEKS DID ENTERPRISE.
Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1666.
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ED.]
There are two copies of " The Wandering Prince of Troy, to the tune
of Queen Dido',' in the Pepys Collection (i. 84 and 548). Of these copies
the first, being printed by John Wright, is probably not of earlier date
than 1620 ; and the second, by Clarke, Thackeray, and Passinger, after
1660.
The ballad has been reprinted in Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry ',
iii. 192, 1765 ; and in Ritson's Ancient Songs, ii. 141, 1829. Its exten-
sive popularity will be best shown by the following quotations : — " You
ale-knights, you that devour the marrow of the malt, and drink whole
ale-tubs into consumptions ; that sing Queen Dido over a cup, and tell
strange news over an ale-pot," &c. — (The Penniless Parliament of
Threadbare Poets, 1608. Percy Soc. reprint, p. 44). Fletcher mentions
it: —
" These are your eyes !
Where were they, Clora, when you fell in love
With the old footman for singing Queen Dido ? "
The Captain, act iii. sc., 3.
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 185
He mentions it once more in act i. sc. 2 of Bonduca, where Petillius
says of Junius that he is "in love, indeed in love, most lamentably loving,
—to the tune of Queen Dido'' At a later date Sir Robert Howard says :
" In my younger time I have been delighted with a ballad for its sake ;
and 'twas ten to one but my muse and I had so set up first : nay, I had
almost thought that Queen Dido, sung that way, was some ornament to
the pen of Virgil. 1 was then a trifler with the lute and fiddle, and per-
haps, being musical, might have been willing that words should have
their tones, unisons, concords, and diapasons, in order to a poetical
gamuth." — (Poems and Essays, 8vo, 1673.)
A great number of ballads were sung to the tune, either under the
name of Queen Dido or of Troy Town. Of these I will only cite the
following : —
" The most excellent History of the Duchess of Suffolk's Calamity.
To the tune of Queen Dido ; " commencing —
" When God had taken for our sin
That prudent prince, King Edward, away."
Contained in Strange Histories, or Songes and Sonets, &c., 1607 ; in The
Crown Garland of Golden Roses, 16*59 5 m the Pepys Collection, i. 544 ;
and reprinted in Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 135.
" Of the Inconveniences by Marriage. To the tune of When Troy
Towne;" beginning —
': Fond, wanton youth makes love a god."
Contained in The Golden Garland of Princely Delights, third edition,
1620 ; also set to music by Robert Jones, and printed in his First Booke
of Ay res, folio, 1601.
" The lamentable song of the Lord Wigmore, Governor of Warwick
Castle, and the Fayre Maid of Dunsmoore," &c. ; beginning —
"In Warwickshire there stands a downe,
And Dunsmoore-heath it hath to name ; "
which, in The Crown Garland of Golden Roses, 1612, is to the tune of
Diana {and her darlings dear\ ; but in the copy in the Bagford Collec-
tion is to the tune of Troy Toivn. — (Reprinted by Evans, iii. 226.)
" The Spanish Tragedy : containing the lamentable murder of Horatio
and Belimperia ; with the pitiful death of old Hieronimo. To the tune
of Queen Dido ; " beginning —
" You that have lost your former joys."
Printed at the end of the play of The Spanish Tragedy, in Dodsley's Old
Plays, iii. 203, 1825 ; and by Evans, iii. 288.
1 86
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
A Looking-glass for Ladies ; or a Mirror for Married Women.
Tune, Q.ueen Dido, or Troy Town ; " commencing —
"When Greeks and Trojans fell at strife."
Reprinted by Percy, under the name of Constant Penelope, from a copy
in the Pepys Collection.
"The Pattern of True Love ; or Bowes' Tragedy," written in 1717,
and printed in Ritson's Yorkshire. Garland.
THE SPANISH GIPSY.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Musictts Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; The Musical
Miscellany, 1729 ; Walsh's Dancing Master, with the name of " Fairy Queen " ; in the
Ballad Operas, The Bafs Opera, 1730, and The Fashionable Lady, 1730, it is called
" Come, follow, follow me."
[*]
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In the play of The Spanish Gipsie, by Middleton and Rowley, there
is a song in the same measure as this tune, sung by the gipsies before
giving an exhibition of their various arts, which runs thus : —
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 187
Come, follow your Leader, follow, Arme, arme, what Bands are those?
Our convoy be Mars and Apollo; They cannot be sure our foes ;
The Van comes brave up here, Weele not draw up our force,
As hotly comes the Reare. Nor muster any Horse.
Omnes. — Our knackers 1 are the Fifes and Omnes.— For since they pleas'd to view our
Drums, sight,
Sa, sa, the Gipsies' Army comes. Let's this way, this way, give delight.
Horsemen, we need not feare, A Councell of War let's call,
There's none but footmen here ; Looke either to stand or fall ;
The Horse sure charge without, If our weake Army stands,
Or if they wheele about, — Thank all these noble hands,
Omnes. — Our knackers are the shot that Omnes. — Whose gates of Love being open
flie, throwne,
Pit-a-pat ratling in the sky. We enter, and then the Towne's our
* f * * * owne.
From this song, no doubt, the tune took its first name ; but it became
eventually better known as Fairy Queen, and Come, follow, follow me,
1 itles which were derived from a little work called " A Description of the
King and Queene of Fayries, their habit, fare, abode, pompe, and state :
being very delightful to the sense, and full of mirth. London : printed
for Richard Harper, and are to be. sold at his shop at the Hospitall
Gate, 1635." The first song in this tract begins —
" Come, follow, follow me ;
Ye fairy elves that be,
Which circle on the green,
Come follow Mab your queen.
Hand in hand let's dance around,
For this place is fairy ground "
It was " to be sung like to the Spanish Gipsie" and will be found printed
entire in Percy's Reliques and Ritson's English Songs.
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 544, is a black-letter ballad entitled
" The brave English Jipsie : to the tune of The Spanish Jipsie. Printed
for John Trundle," &c. It consists of eighteen stanzas, and begins —
" Come, follow, follow all,
'Tis English Jipsies' call."
And in the same volume, p. 408, one by M[artin] Pfarker], called " The
Three Merry Cobblers," beginning as follows : —
" Come, follow, follow me,
To the ale-house we'll march all three,
Leave awl, last, thread, and leather,
And let's go all together.
Our trade excels most trades i' the land,
For we are still on the mending hand."
1 Castanets.
188
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
[*]
NEWCASTLE.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
Came you not from New - cas-tle, came you not there a - way . . . . O
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met you not my true love, Rid-ing on a bon - ny bay. Why
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should not I love my love, why should not my love love me. . . . Why
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love to all is free-]
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I have land at Newcastle,
will buy both hose and shoone ;
And I have land at Durham,
will feitch my hart to boorne.
And why should I not love my love,
why should not my love love me ;
Why should not I love my love
[Since love to all is free].
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
I89
These words are from Dr. Percy's folio MS., p. 95 ; but the last line
of each stanza there reads — "Gallant hound sedelee." The line which
has been printed instead of this is from a song " sung to a Northern
tune of Camst tho^l not from Newcastle ? " by one of the characters in
" The Famous Historic of Fryer Bacon," &c., a little black-letter volume,
printed without date, but issued, Mr. Payne Collier thought, about 1580.
The first verse is as follows :—
" To couple is a custome
All things thereto agree ;
Why should not I then love,
Since love to all is free."
LOVE WILL FIND OUT THE WAY.
Forbes' Songs and Fancies, 1666 ; Musictfs Recreation on the Lyra-Viol, 1652 ;
Music Vs Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; &c.
[*]
O - ver the mountains and un - der the caves, o - ver the fountains and
[Fast.]
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190
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Many do loose him by proving unkind ;
Or some may suppose him, poor heart, to
be blind :
But if ne're so close ye wall him,
Do the best that ye may ;
Blind Love, if ye do call him,
He will grope out his way.
There is no striving to cross his intent,
There is no contriving his plots to prevent
For if once the message greet him
That his true love doth stay,
Though demons come and meet him,
He will go on his way.
The words are taken from those printed with the tune in Forbes.
The title of the ballad, as printed by Coules (about 1625), is " Truth's
Integrity ; or, A curious Northern ditty, called Love will find out the way :
to a pleasant new tune." A later copy in the Douce Collection, p. 232,
is entitled " A curious Northern ditty, called Love will find out the way?
In the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 436, is a black-letter ballad of
" Stephen and Cloris ; or, The coy Shepherd and the kind Shepherdess :
to a new play-house tune, or Love will find out the ivay"
Another black-letter ballad, to the tune of Love will find out the way,
is entitled, " The Countryman's new Care away" ; commencing —
If there were employments
For men, as have been ;
And drums, pikes, and muskets,
I' the field to be seen ;
And every worthy soldier
Had truly his pay ;
Then might they be bolder
To sing Care away."
[*]
I'LL NEVER LOVE THEE MORE.
Gamble's MS.,1 dated 1659, in the possession of Dr. Rimbault.
My dear and on - ly love take heed, how thou thy - self ex - pose . .
J I _», l -
I f^ 9 *--, * \~£3 •
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1 This is a manuscript volume of songs and
ballads, with music, in the hand-writing of
John Gamble, the composer. Gamble pub-
lished some of his own works in 1657 and
1659, but this seems to have been his common-
place book. It contains the songs Dr. Wilson
composed for Brome's play, The Northern
Lass, and many compositions of H. and W.
Lawes, as well as common songs and ballads.
The last are usually noted down without bases ;
and in some instances the space intended for
the tune is unfilled.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
By let - ting long - ing lo - vers feed up - on such looks as those. . .
I'll mar - ble wall thee round a - bout, and build with- out a door
1 ' ' ' ^-^ J J
But if thy heart do once break out, I'll ne - ver love thee more.
J I ! I !
Let not their oaths, by volleys shot,
Make any breach at all,
Nor smoothness of their language plot
A way to scale the wall r
No balls of wild-fire-love consume
The shrine which I adore ;
For, if such smoke about it fume,
I'll never love thee more.
Then if by fraud or by consent,
To ruin thou shouldst come,
I'll sound no trumpet as of wont,
Nor march by beat of drum ;
But fold my arms, like ensigns, up,
Thy falsehood to deplore,
And, after such a bitter cup,
I'll never love thee more.
A copy of the ballad, consisting of four verses in the first, and five in
the second part, is contained in the Douce Collection, p, 102, entitled
" fie never love thee more : Being the Forsaken Lover's Farewell to his
Fickle Mistress. To a rare Northern tune, or He never love thee more?'
It commences, " My dear and only joy, take heed " ; and the second
192
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
part, " He lock myself within a cell." Having been " Printed for W.
Whitwood, at the Golden Lyon in Duck Lane," this copy may be dated
about 1670. It is also in the li'st of those printed by W. Thackeray at
the same period. The words will also be found in the first and second
editions of Wit and Drollery, 1656 and 1661 (there entitled "A Song"),
and in Pills to purge Melancholy, 1700, 1707, and 1719. The tune
was first added to T/ie Dancing- Master in 1686, and is contained in
every subsequent edition, in a form more appropriate to dancing than
the earlier copy.
[The words were also printed in Pills to purge Melancholy, edition of
1709, with a different tune, which is as follows : —
i
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ED.]
In the Pepys Collection, i. 256, is " The Faythfull Lover's Resolution ;
being forsaken of a coy and faythless dame. To the tune of My dear
and only love, take heed" ; commencing, " Though booteles I must needs
complain." " Printed at London for P. Birch."
In the same volume, i. 280, is a ballad " to the tune of O no, no, no,
not yet ; or, lie never love thee more" ; commencing, " A young man and
a lasse of late." " Printed at London for J[ohn] T[rundle].°
At p. 378 — " Anything for a Quiet Life ; or, The Married Man's
bondage," &c. "To the tune of O no, no, no, not yet ; or, lie never love
thee more" " Printed at London by G. P."
And at p. 394 — " Tis not Otherwise ; or, The Praise of a Married
Life. To the tune of lie never love thee more " ; commencing, " A young
man lately did complaine." " Printed at London by G. B."
THE EARLIER BALLADS. . IQ3
The above quotations tend to prove the tune, in its original form,
to be of the time of James I. Philip Birch, the publisher of the first
ballad, had a "shop at the Guyldhall" in 1618, where he published " Sir
Walter Rauleigh his Lamentation." John Trundle, the publisher of the
second, was dead in 1628 ; the ballads were then printed by " M. T.,
widdow." Trundle is mentioned as a ballad-printer in Ben Jonson's
Every Man in his Humour, 1598.
In the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 574, is " A proper new ballad, being
the regrate [regret] of a true Lover for his Mistris unkindness. To a
new tune, lie ever love thee more? The rude orthography of this seems
to mark it as an early ballad ; but, unfortunately, the printer's name is
cut away. It commences thus : —
" I wish I were those gloves, dear heart, Then should no sorrow, grief, or smart,
Which could thy hands inshrine ; Molest this heart of mine, &c. " ;
and consists of twenty-one stanzas of eight lines ; thirteen in the first
part, and eight in the second.
In the same collection, and in Mr. Payne Collier's Roxburghe Ballads,
p. 227, is " The Tragedy of Hero and Leander. To a pleasant neiv
tune, or / will never love thee more? The last was " Printed for R.
Burton, at the Horse-shoe in West-Smithfield, neer the Hospital-gate " ;
and the copy would, therefore, date in the reign of Charles I., or during
the Commonwealth.
James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, also wrote " Lines " to this
tune, retaining a part of the first line, and the burden of each verse,
" /'// never love thee more" It is " An Address to his Mistress," and
commences —
" My dear and only love, / pray
This noble world of thee," &c.
Like " My dear and only love, take heed" it consists of five stanzas ; and
must have been written after the establishment of the Committees and
the Synod of Divines at Westminster (1643), because he refers to both
in the song.
Watson, in his Collection of Scotch Poems, part iii., 1711, printed one
of the extended versions of " My dear and only love, take heed" as a
" second part " to the Marquis of Montrose's song. This is obviously a
mistake : we have seen that the ballad was printed in the early years of
the century, and the Marquis of Montrose was not born till 1612. The
error has been reproduced in Memoirs of Montrose, Edinburgh, 1819.
It was, no doubt, the Marquis of Montrose's song that made the tune
o
194
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
popular in Scotland. It is found, under the name of Montrose Lyns, in
a late manuscript of lyra-viol music recently in the possession of Mr.
A. Blaikie. The tune has, therefore, been included in collections of
Scottish music; 'but " My dear and only love, take heed" continued to
be the popular song in England, and from that it derives its name. In
English ballads it is called " A rare Northern tune," l and I have never
yet found that term applied to a Scotch air.
Some of the ballads are of a later date than the Marquis of
Montrose's song, such as " Teach me, Belissa, what to do : to the tune
of My dear and only love, take heed" in Folly in print, 1667; "A
Dialogue between Tom and Dick," in Rats rhimed to Death, 1660 ; " The
Swimming Lady," in the Bagford, others in Roxburghe and Pepys Col-
lections ; but I have already cited enough to prove that it was a very
popular air, and popular before the Marquis of Montrose's song can have
been written.
NOW THE SPRING IS COME.
Gamble's MS. ; Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book, B.M. Addl. MSS., 10,337.
[*]
2. While the flowers spring, and birds do sing, their sweet tunes, their sweet tunes, their sweet
i. Now the spring is come, turne to thy love, to thy love, to thy love, to thy
1 In ballad-phrase, the terms " Northern "
and "North-country" were often applied to
places within a hundred miles of London.
Percy describes the old ballad of Chevy Chase
as written in " the coarsest and broadest Nor-
thern dialect," although Richard Sheale, the
author of that version, was a minstrel residing
in Tamwor'h, and in the service of the Earl of
Derby. Puttenham thus notices the difference
of speech prevailing in his time beyond the
Trent : — " Our [writer] therefore at these days
shall not follow Piers Plowman, nor Gower,
nor Lydgate, nor yet Chaucer, for their lan-
guage is now out of use with us : neither shall
he take the terms of North-men, such as they
use in dayly talke (whether they be noble men
or gentlemen, or of their best clarkes, all is a
matter), nor in effect any speach used beyond
the river of Trent : though no man can deny
but theirs is the purer English Saxon at this
day, yet it is not so courtly nor so current as
our Southerne English is, no more is the far
Western man's speach : ye shall therefore take
the usuall speach of the Court, and that of
London and the shires lying about London,
within sixty miles, and not much above."
—(Arte of English Poesie. ) Many of the charac-
ters in plays of the seventeenth century, such
as Brome's Northern Lass, speak in a dialect
which might often pass for Scotch with those
who are unacquainted with the language of the
time.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
195
and^lke^o d? - fay!' } ^^ I wil1 fil1 thV lap full of flowres, and cover thee with
p
sha - dy bowres, come a - way, .
J
&
come a - way,
I
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come a - way and doe not stay.
g «i •"»
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here hath made a bed
for my Love, for my Love, for my Love,
With roses red.
Phoebus beanies to stay are bent
for to yeeld, for to yeeld, for to yeeld
my Love content.
And the pleasant Eglantine
Made with a thousand flowers fine :
come away, come away, come away,
and doe not stay.
Harke how the Nightingale sweetly doth
sing
for my Love, for my Love, for my Love,
the Lambes do play.
Pan, to please my Love, the Rocks makes
to ring, [pipe,
and doth pipe, and doth pipe, and doth
a roundelay.
See the pleasant rushy Brookes,
And every Flower for my Love lookes :
come away, come away, come away,
and doe not stay.
Fairest fayre, now turne to thy Love,
to thy Love, to thy Love, to thy Love
that loves thee best.
Sweet, let pitty move, grant love for love,
like the Dove, like the Dove, like the Dove,
for ever rest.
Crowne thy delights with hopefull joyes ;
Thy love revives, thy hate destroyes :
come away, come away, come away
and doe not stay.
These words are from the ballad in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 200.
In the same collection, i. 48, is another ballad, entitled "Christmas'
Lamentation for the losse of his acquaintance; showing how he is forst
to leave the Country, and come to London. To the tune of Now the
Spring is comer
O 2
196
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
GATHER YE ROSEBUDS.
Playford's Ay res and Dialogues, 1659, and Introduction to Music, 1660 ; Mustek's
Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; Musical Companion, 1667.
[*]
Ga - ther ye rose - buds while ye may, Old Time is still a fly - ing :
t\ I fr fr I N i ^ k. ^ r""! I
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And this same flower that smiles to - day, To - mor - row will be dy - ing.
* i _ r^ i N i
The glorious Lamp of Heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And, while ye may, go marry ;
For having once but lost your prime,
You may for ever tarry.
[This tune, which is by William Lawes, is here given with the
original bass, from the earliest printed copy. — ED.]
The words are by Herrick, and were printed in his Hesperides, with
the title, " To the Virgins, to make much of Time." The song soon
became popular in ballad-form, and is in the list of those printed by W.
Thackeray, at the Angel in Duck Lane, as well as in Merry Drollery
Complete, 1670. It has been reprinted (from a defective copy) in Evans'
Old Ballads, iii. 287, 1810.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
I97
THREE MERRY MEN.
John Playford's MS. Commonplace Book, in the possession of the Hon. G. O'Callaghan.
[*]
Three merry men, and three merry men, and three mer-ry men be we:
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The words are from Peele's The Old Wives' Tale, 1 595, where it is
sung instead of the song proposed, O man in desperation.
In Fletcher's The Bloody Brother, three men who are about to be
hanged join in a chorus of —
" Three merry boys, and three merry boys,
And three merry boys are we,
As ever did sing in a hempen string,
Under the gallow tree."
The song is also quoted in Twelfth Night ; in Westward Hoe, by
Dekker and Webster, 1607 '•> and in Ram Alley, 1611.
There is a later song of " Three merry boys " : —
" The wise men were but seven,
nor more shall be for me ;
The muses were but nine,
the worthies three times three ;
And three merry boys, and three merry boys,
And three merry boys are we."
This was set as a Round for three voices by William Lawes. It was
exceedingly popular, and is to be found in all the contemporary Catch
books.
198
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
THE HUNTER IN HIS CAREER, OR BASSE'S CAREER.
The Gordon Lute Book (Straloch MS.), 1627.
2. - fore the creak of the crow, and the break of the day in the wel -kin
I. Long ere the morn ex - pects the re - turn, of A - pol - lo from the o - cean
. I 1— Jn— I-
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
199
Now bonny bay
In his foine waxeth gray ;
Dapple-grey waxeth bay in his blood ;
White-Lily stops
With the scent in her chaps,
And Black- Lady makes it good.
Poor silly Wat,
In this wretched state,
Forgets these delights for to hear ;
Nimbly she bounds
From the cry of the hounds,
And the music of their career.
Hills, with the heat
Of the gallopers' sweat
Reviving their frozen tops,
[And] the dale's purple flowers
That droop from the showers
That down from the rowels drops.
Swains their repast.
And strangers their haste
Neglect, when the horns they do hear;
To see a fleet
Pack of hounds in a sheet,
And the hunter in his career.
Thus he careers,
Over heaths, over meres,
Over deeps, over downs, over clay ;
Till he hath won
The noon from the morn,
And the evening from the day.
His sport then he ends,
And joyfully wends
Home again to his cottage, where
Frankly he feasts
Himself and his guests,
And carouses in his career.
This is one of the songs alluded to in Walton's Angler, where
Piscator says : — " I'll promise you I'll sing a song that was lately made
at my request by Mr. William Basse, one that made the choice songs
of ( The Hunter in his Career/ and ' Tom of Bedlam/ and many others
of note."
A copy of the song is in the Pepys Collection, i. 452, entitled
" Maister Basse his Careere ; or, The New Hunting of the Hare. To a
new court tune." Printed for E[liz.] A[llde]. On the same sheet is
" The Faulconer's Hunting. To the tune of Basse his careere." The
words are also in Wit and Drollery, Jovial Poems, 1682, p. 64, and in
Old Ballads, 2nd edit, 1738, iii. 196.
Among other ballads sung to the tune are " Wit's never good till 'tis
bought," in Mr. Collier's Roxbu.rghe Ballads, p. 264 ; and " The Hasty
Bridegroom/' &c., to the tune of Bass his career, or Bow-bells, Rox. ii.
208, and Pepys iv. 95.
In Wit and Drollery, &c., 1682, the song is followed by another
called "The Hunt," evidently intended for this tune, which begins :—
" Clear is the air, and the morning is fair,
Fellow huntsmen, come wind your horn ;
Fresh is the earth, and sweet is the breath,
That melteth the rime from the thorn," &c.
200
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
I LIVE NOT WHERE I LOVE.
Forbes' Songs and Fancies ; 1666.
[*]
2. From my love my life was wrest-ed,
I . With my love my life was nest - ed,
a world of
the sun of
hea - vi - ness
hap - pi - ness
O let love my life re - move,
sith I live not where I love.
Where the truth once was, and is not,
Shadows are but vanities
Shewing want, that help they cannot,
Are but slaves of miseries.
Painted meat no hunger feeds,
Dying life each death exceeds.
O, true Love, since thou hast left me,
Mortal life is tedious ;
Death it is to live without thee,
Death of all most odious.
Turn again and take me with thee,
Let me die, or live you with me.
This song is also in the Percy folio MS., ii. 325, but no printed copy
in ballad form is known. It must, however, have been popular, at least for
a time ; for in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 68, is a ballad entitled " The
Constant Lover :
* Who his affection will not move,
Though he live not where he love ' ;
which begins thus : —
"You loyal lovers that are distant
From your sweethearts many a mile,
Pray come help me at this instant
In mirth to spend away the while,
In singing sweetly and completely
In commendation of my love ;
Resolving ever to part never,
Though I live not where I love."
This is directed to be sung " to a Northern tune, called Shall the absence
of my Misfresse" which may be another name for the tune given above,
from some other ballad written to it. Ballads to the tune under one or
other of these names will be found in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 320,
and iii. 182 ; and in the Pepys Collection, iv. 40.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
201
ONCE I LOVED A MAIDEN FAIR.
The Dancing Master ; 1650-98 ; Playford's Introduction to Mustek, 1664 \ MusicKs
Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; Apollo's Banqitet, 1670, &c.
[*]
2. She was young and a - mong crea- lures of temp-ta - tion :
I. Once I loved a mai-den faire, . . but she did de-ceive me:
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Who will say but mai -dens may
She with Ve - nus might com- paire, .
kisse for re - ere - a - - tion.
in my mind be - leeve me.
Three times I made it knowne,
to the congregation ;
That the church had her ovvne,
as priest had made relation.
Married we straight must be,
although we go a begging :
But now by love 'tis like to prove
a very hopefull wedding.
The words are from the ballad in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 350 ;
printed for the assigns of Thomas Symcock.
The first song in Patrick Carey's Trivial Poems, written in 1651
('" Fair one ! if thus kind you be "), is to the tune Once I lov'd a Maiden
fair. It is also alluded to in The Fool turrfd Critic, 1678 — "We have
now such tunes, such lamentable tunes, that would make me forswear
;ill music. Maiden Fair and The King's Delight are incomparable to
some of these we have now."
[I have no clue to the version printed in the former edition of this
v/ork. Whatever it may be, it is certainly later than the seventeenth
century, since the tune as it stands in The Dancing Master of 1698 is
exactly the same as in the edition of 1650, from which the version
given above is taken.— ED.]
202
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
SHALL I WASTING IN DESPAIR.
MS. in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.
Shall I wast -ing in des - pair, die be -cause a wo- man's fair?
Shall my cheeks look pale with care, be - cause an - o - ther's ro - sy are ?
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Be she fair - er than the day, or the flow - rie meads of May ;
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Yet if she be not such to me, what care I how fair she be.
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THE EARLIER BALLADS. 2O3
Shall my foolish heart be pin'd, Great, or good, or kind, or fair,
'Cause I see a woman kind ? I will ne'er the more despair :
Or a well-disposed nature, If she love me, this believe,
Joined with a lovely feature? I will die ere she shall grieve.
Be she kind, or meeker than If she slight me when I woo,
Turtle-dove or pelican ; I can slight and let her go :
If she be not so to me, If she be not fit for me,
What care I how kind she be. What care I for whom she be.
Shall a woman's virtues move
Me to perish for her love ?
Or her merits value known,
Make me quite forget mine own ?
Be she with that goodness blest,
Which may gain her name of Best ;
If she be not such to me,
What care I how good she be.
A copy of this song is in the Pepys Collection, i. 230, entitled " A
new song of a young man's opinion of the difference between good and
bad women. To a pleasant new tune " (Printed at London for W. I.).
It is also in the second part of The "Golden Garland of Princely Delights,
3rd edit, 1620, entitled " The Shepherd's Resolution. To the tune
of The Young Man's Opinion? As the name of the tune is here
derived from the title of the ballad, it must have been printed in ballad
form before 1620, when it was published among The Workes of Master
George Wither.
The first line of the copy in the Pepys Collection (unlike that in The
Golden Garland} is " Shall I wrestling in despaire." In the same volume
are the following : —
Page 200. — " The unfortunate Gallant gull'd at London. To the
tune of Shall I wrastle in despair " (Printed for T. L.) ; beginning —
" From Cornwall Mount to London Fair."
Page 316. — "This maid would give tenne shillings for a kisse. To
the tune of Shall I wrassle in despair" (Printed at London by I. White) ;
beginning —
" You young men all, take pity on me.';
Page 236. — " Jone is as good as my lady. To the tune of What care
I how fair she be?" (Printed at London for A. M[ilbourn]) beginning —
" Shall I here rehearse the story."
204
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
HEY, THEN UP GO WE.
[*]
Musica Antiqua, from a MS. formerly in the possession of Dr. Boyce.
Know this my breth - ren Heaven is clear, and all the clouds are gone
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THE EARLIER BALLADS.
205
shall go
down, and hey
then up go we.
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This is the first stanza of a song by Francis Quarles, of which
copies will be found in MS. Ashmole, 36 and 37, folio 96 ; in Loyal
Songs written against the Rump Parliament, i. 14 ; in Ellis's Specimens ;
and with the tune in Musica Antiqua.
Some differences will be found in the various copies ; for instance,
Quarles' line, "Then Barrow shall be sainted," is, in Musica Antiqua,
" Then Burton shall be sainted," and in Loyal Songs, " Then Surges" &c.
In the last, there are two additional stanzas, and the tune is changed.
In Ashmole's manuscript, the song is entitled " The Triumph of the
Roundheads ; or, The Rejoicing of. the Saints."
Another tune for the song is the following, which is printed with a
ballad entitled "A Pleasant New Song of 82. To an old tune of 41,"
in the volume of broadsides called Caricatures and Ballads in the
British Museum (C. 20, f. 6) : —
r r
r f *
1st.
i
Other versions more or less resembling this will be found in The Dancing
Master of 1686, and in every subsequent edition ; in 180 Loyal Songs,
1685 and 1694; in Pills to purge Melancholy, ii. 286 (1719) ; and in the
following ballad operas: — Beggars' Opera, 1728; The Patron, 1729;
The Lover's Opera, 1729; Quaker's Opera, 1728; Silvia, 1731; The
2O6 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Devil to pay, 1731 ; and Love and Revenge, N.D. In some copies it is
in common time, in others in § or §.
Two other names for the tune are The clean contrary way, and The
good old cause.
In A Choice Collection of 120 Loyal Songs, &c, 12 mo, 1684, is "An
excellent new Hymn, exalting the Mobile to Loyalty," &c., "To the tune
of Forty-one " / commencing —
" Let us advance the good old cause, 'Tis we must perfect this great work,
Fear not Tantivitiers, And all the Tories slay,
Whose threat'nings areas senseless as And make the King a glorious Saint —
Our jealousies and fears. The clean contrary way?
This is a mere alteration of a song by Alexander Brome, entitled " The
Saint's Encouragement ; written in 1643," an<^ printed in his Songs and
other Poems •, I2mo, 1644 (p. 164). It commences thus —
" Fight on, brave soldiers, for the cause, 'Tis you must perfect this brave work,
Fear not the Cavaliers ; And all malignants slay,
Their threat'nings are as senseless as You must bring back the King again —
Our jealousies and fears. The clean contrary way"
In the collection of Loyal Songs written against the Rump Parliament,
instead of " The Saint's Encouragement," &c., Brome's song is headed
"On Colonel Venne's Encouragement to his Soldiers: A Song" (i. 104,
edit. 1731).
The clean contrary way is a very old,1 and was a very popular burden
to songs. Some of the songs, however, like that on the Duke of
Buckingham, reprinted by Mr. Fairholt for the Percy Society (No. 90,
p. 10), are in another metre, and were therefore written to other tunes.
It appears, from some lines in Choyce Poems, &c.y by the wits of both
Universities (printed for Henry Brome, 1661), that some ballad-singers
had been committed to prison, and threatened to be whipped through
the town, for singing one of these songs,
" The fiddlers must be whipt, the people say,
Because they sung The clean contrary way ; " &c.
1 The clean contrary way, as a burden, may Book, reprinted by Mr. Wright for the Percy
be traced, in Latin, to the fifteenth century, if Society (Songs and Carols, p. 88), and in a
not earlier, as, for instance, in a highly popular Collection of Romances, Songs, Carols, &c.,
song — in the handwriting of Richard Hill, merchant,
" Of all creatures women be best, of London, from 1483 to 1535, now in the
Cujus contrarium verum est. " Library of Balliol College, Oxford (No. 105,
Copies of that are contained in the Minstrels' P- 25O>)
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 2O/
One of the songs was remembered in Walpole's time, for in a letter to
Sir Horace Mann, dated October I, 1742, he says, "As to German news,
it is all so simple that I am peevish : the raising of the siege of Prague,
and Prince Charles and Marechal Maillebois playing at Hunt the
Squirrel, have disgusted me from enquiry about the war. The Earl
laughs in his great chair, and sings a bit of an old ballad : —
' They both did fight, they both did beat,
They both did run away ;
They both did strive again to meet —
The clean contrary way.' "
Walpoles Letters, 1840, i. 231.
Among the numerous songs and ballads to this air the following may
be named : —
1. "A Health to the Royal Family; or, The Tories' Delight: To
the tune of Hey, boys, up go we" (Pepys Coll., ii. 217) ; commencing —
" Come, give's a brimmer, fill it up, Let rebels plot, 'tis all in vain,
'Tis to great Charles our King, They plot themselves but woe,
And merrily let it go round, Come, loyal lads, unto the Queen,
Whilst we rejoice and sing. And briskly let it go."
2. A satirical song by Lord Rochester (Harl. MSS., 6913, p. 267) —
" Send forth, dear Julian, all thy books Let all the ladies read their own,
Of scandal, large and wide, The men their failings see,
That ev'ry knave that in 'em looks From Nell to him that treads the throne
May see himself describ'd. Then Hey, boys, up go we.
3. " The Popish Tory's Confession ; or, An Answer to the Whig's
Exaltation," &c. " A pleasant new song to the tune of Hey, boys, up go
we" (Douce Coll., 182); beginning —
te< Down with the Whigs,3 we'll now grow We'll make the Roundheads stoop to us,
wise, For we their betters be,
Let's cry out, ' Pull them down,' We'll pull down all their pride with speed,
By that we'll rout the Good old cause, Such Tories now are we."
And mount one of our own.
This is on Papists calling themselves Tories (printed by J. Wright, J.
Clarke, W. Thackeray, T. Passinger, and M. Coles, B.L., temp. Charles
II.) ; and is preceded by eleven long lines, of which the following six
contain the usual derivation of " Tory " —
" No honest man, who king and state does love,
Will of a name so odious approve,
Whichfrom the worst of Irish thieves at first
Had its beginning, and with blood was nurst.
Which shows it is of a right Popish breed,
As in their own confession you may read."
208 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
4 and 5. The last line just quoted perhaps alludes to " The Tories'
Confession ; or, A merry song in Answer to the Whig's Exaltation. To
the tune of Forty-oner A copy of this (London, T. H., 1682) is in Mr.
Halliwell's Collection, Cheetham Library (No. 3010), as well as " A new
ballad from Whig-land," to the same air (No. 1045).
6. " The City's thankes to Southwarke for giving the army entrance "
(Sept. I, 1647)—
" We thank you more than we can say,
But 'tis the cleane contrary way"
This is among the King's Pamphlets, and reprinted in Wright's Political
Ballads, Percy Soc., No. 90, p. 70.
7. " The Thames uncas'd ; or, The Waterman's Song upon the Thaw.
To the tune of Hey, boys, up go we " ; commencing —
" Come, ye merry men all, of Waterman's Hall."
See Old Ballads illustrating the Great Frost of 1683-4, Percy Soc., No.
42, p. 30.
8. " Advice to Batchelors ; or, The Married Man's Lamentation."
Commencing —
" You batchelors that single are,
May lead a happy life."
9. " The Good Fellow's Consideration ; or, The Bad Husband's
Amendment," &c. —
" Lately written by Thomas Lanfiere,
Of Watchat town in Somersetshire."
(Roxburghe Coll., ii. 195. " Printed for P. Brooksby.")
10. " The Good Fellow's Frolic ; or, Kent Street Club. To the tune
of Hey, boys, up go we ; Seaman's Mournful Bride ; or, The fair one let
me in ; beginning —
* Here's a crew of jovial blades
That lov'd the nut-brown ale.' "— (Rox. Coll., ii. 198.)
11. "All is Ours and our Husband's; or, The Country Hostess's
Vindication. To the tune of The Carman's Whistle; or, Heigh, boys, up
go we" — (Roxburghe Coll., ii. 8.)
12 and 13. "A Farewell to Gravesend," and "The Merry Boys of
Christmas ; or, The Milkmaid's New Year's Gift." — (Roxburghe, vol. iv.)
It would be no difficult task to add fifty more to the above list, but
it is already sufficiently lengthy.
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
209
VIVE LE ROY.
B.M. Addl. MSS., 11,608; Mustek's Recreation on the Viol, Lyra-way, 1661 ;
MusicKs Delight on the Cithren, 1666.
[*]
What though the Zea
lots pull down the Pre - lates, Push at the
^tt=3
m
i
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f r
[Moderate.]
fri
t i i
J- -J
Pul - pit and kicke at the Crowne : Shall not the Round - head
S i . i
i=r^
±=±
INN
E
first be con - found - ed ; Sa, sa, sa, sa, Boyes ; Ha, ha, ha,
3
r
n^—i-
P
I {
I
_tL
I
£=f
ha, Boyes ; Then weele re - turn
with Tri - utnph and Joy.
Shall we not never, once more endeavoure,
Strive to [repurchase our Royall Renowne ?
Then wee'le be merry, drinke white wine and sherrie,
Then we will sing, Boyes, God bless our Kinge, Boyes,
Cast up our capps and crie Vive le Roy.
210
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
These are the words given with the music in the British Museum
MS,, where the tune is set in three parts. Another copy of the words is
in Loyal Songs, 1732, i. 102 ; also in the "Rump" Songs, 1662, i. 145.
The song is frequently alluded to, as in the ballad entitled " A la
Mode : The Cities profound policie in delivering themselves, their cittie,
their works, and ammunition, unto the protection of the Armie"
(August 27, 1647), King's Pamphlets, vol. v., folio ; and Wright's
Political Ballads, p. 64 —
" And now the Royalists will sing
Aloud Vive le Roy'
The Commons will embrace their King
With an unwonted joy.53
And in " He that is a clear Cavalier," the first stanza ends —
' Freeborn in liberty we'll ever be,
Sing Vive le Roy?
Again, in A Joco-serious Discourse, by George Stuart, 1686, a welcome
to James II., — "the harmonious spheres sound Vive le Roy" (p. 3).
Among Mr. Halliwell's Collection of Ballads is " England's Honour
and London's Glory, with the manner of proclaiming Charles the Second
King of England, this eighth of May, 1660, by the Honourable the two
Houses of Parliament, Lord Generall Monk, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen,
and Common Counsell of the City. The tune is Vive le Roy" London,
printed for William Gilbertson. It begins —
: Come hither, friends, and listen unto me,
And hear what shall now related be ; "
and the burden is —
" Then let us sing, boyes, God save the King, boyes,
Drink a good health, and sing Vive le Roy?
WHEN THE KING ENJOYS HIS OWN AGAIN.
Mustek's Recreation on the Lyra-Viol, 1652 ; Mustek's Delight on the Cilhren, 1666 ;
Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book ; &c.
[*]
2. I think my -self to be as wise as he that most looks in the skies.
I. WhatBook-er1 can prog - nos- ti - cate, or speak ofourkingdom'spre-sent state :
3
rffi
[Moderate.'}
f
THE EARLIER BALLADS. 211
My skill goes beyond the depths of the Pond^or Ri - ver in the great - est rain;
m
P
-r'^Tw^
J-
r— t
By the which I can tell that all things will be well, when the King comes home in peace a - gain.
/Ts
There is no Asstrologer, then .say I,
can search more deep in this than I ;
To give you a reason from the stars,
what causeth peace, or civill Wars.
The man in the Moon may wear out his
shoone,
in running after Charles his Wain ;
But all to no end, for the times they will
mend,
when the King comes home in peace
again.
4 * *
Though for a time you may see White-
Hall,
with cob-webs hanging over the wal,
In stead of silk, and silver brave
as formerly it used to have ;
(And) in every Roome, the sweet perfume,
delightful for that Princely Traine ;
The which you shall see, when the time it
shall be,
That the King comes home in peace again.
Till then upon Ararat's-hill,
my hope shall cast her Anchor still ;
Until I see some peaceful Dove l
bring home the branch which I do love.
Still will I wait till the waters abate,
which most disturb my troubled brain ;
For Fie never rejoyes till I hear that voice,
That the King comes home in peace again
[These words are taken from the broadside in the Roxburghe Collec-
tion, without woodcut or printer's name, which is probably one of the
copies that circulated in secret during the Commonwealth. It has
1 Booker, Pond, and Dove were all astro-
logers and almanack-makers. Booker held
the appointment of Licencer of Almanacks to
the Parliament. Ritson copies his notes about
Booker and others from a small pamphlet
printed in 1711, entitled "The ballad of The
King shall enjoy his own again^ with a learned
comment thereupon ; " but the account there
given of Booker does not agree with that of
William Lilly, quoted in a note to Dodsley's
P 2
212 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
" God save the King, Amen," printed in large letters at the foot, and is
headed, " The King enjoyes his own again. To be joyfully sung with
its own proper tune."
The version of the tune here given is the earlier one, as it was sung
during the Commonwealth ; the one more generally known dates from
after the Restoration. — ED.]
The words are ascertained to be Martin Parker's, by the following
extract from The Gossips' Feast ; or, Morall Tales, 1647 : — " The gossips
were well pleased with the contents of this ancient ballad, and Gammer
Gowty-legs replied, ' By my faith, Martin Parker never got a fairer brat :
no, not when he penn'd that sweet ballad, When the King injoyes his own
again! "
The words of When the King enjoys his own again are in the Rox-
burghe Collection of Ballads, iii. 256 ; in Mr. Payne Collier's Collection ;
in The Loyal Garland, containing Choice Songs and Sonnets of our late
Revolution, London, 1671, and fifth edition, 1686 (reprinted by the
Percy Society) ; in A Collection of Loyal Songs, 1750 ; in Ritson's
Ancient Songs, &c.
Among the almost numberless songs and ballads that were sung to
the tune, I will only cite the following : —
1. "The World turn'd upside down," 1646. King's Pamphlets,
No. 4, folio.
2. " A new ballad called A Review of the Rebellion, in three parts.
To the tune of When the King enjoyes his rights againe? dated June 15,
1647. See King's Pamphlets, vol. 5, folio ; and Wright's Political
Ballads, p. 13.
Old Plays, vol. xi., p. 469. Booker is men- cording to the pamphlet which Ritson quotes,
tioned by Killigrew, in The Parson's Wedding, Dade was ' ' a good innocent fiddle-string
acti.,sc. 2; by Pepys, in his Diary, Feb. 3, maker, who, being told by a neighbouring
1666-7; by Cleveland, in his Dialogue between teacher that their music was in the stars, set
Two Zealots; and by Butler, in Hudibras. himself at work to find out their habitations,
One of his almanacks for 1661 was sold in that he might be instrument-maker to them ;
Skegg's sale. Pond's almanack is mentioned in and having, with much ado, got knowledge of
Middleton's play, No wit, no help like a their place of abode, was judged by the Round-
woman's ; and the Rev. A. Dyce, in a note heads fit for their purpose, and had a pension
upon the passage, quotes the title of one by assigned him to make the stars speak their
Pond for the year 1607. meaning, and justify the villanies they were
In the portion of the ballad not quoted here putting in practice." Hammond's almanack
Dade and Hammond, two other almanack- was called ' ' bloody, " because he always noted
makers, are mentioned. An almanack for the in his chronological table the date when such
year 1636, "by William Dade, gent., London, and such a Royalist was executed, by way of
printed by M. Dawson, for the Company of reproach.
Stationers." was once in my possession. Ac-
THE EARLIER BALLADS.
2I3
3. " The last news from France ; being a true relation of the escape
of the King of Scots from Worcester to London, and from London to
France ; who was conveyed away by a young gentleman in woman's
apparel ; the King of Scots attending on this supposed gentlewoman in
manner of a serving-man. The tune is When the King injoyes" &c.
Printed by W. Thackeray, T. Passenger, and W. Whitwood. Roxburghe
Collection, iii. 54.
4. " The Glory of these Nations ; or King and People's Happiness :
Being a brief relation of King Charles's royall progresse from Dover to
London, how the Lord Generall and the Lord Mayor, with all the
nobility and gentry of the land, brought him thorow the famous city of
London to his Pallace at Westminster, the 29 of May last, being his
Majesties birth-day, to the great comfort of his loyall subjects. The
tune is When the King enjoys his own again" This is one of six ballads
of the time of Charles II. found in the lining of an old trunk, and now
in the British Museum. Also reprinted in Wright's Political Ballads,
p. 223.
5. " A Countrey Song, intituled' The Restoration, May, 1661. King's
Pamphlets, vol. xx., folio ; and Wright's Political Ballads, p. 265.
6. " The Jubilee ; or, The Coronation Day," from Thomas Jordan's
Royal Arbor of Loyal Poesie, I2mo, 1664. As this consists of only two
stanzas, and as the copy of the book (which was in the possession of Mr.
Payne Collier) is probably unique, they are here subjoined : —
" Let every man with tongue and pen
Rejoice that Charles is come agen,
To gain his sceptre and his throne,
And give to every man his own :
Let all men that be
Together agree,
And freely now express their joy :
Let your sweetest voices bring
Pleasant songs unto the King,
To crown his Coronation day.
All that do tread on English earth
Shall live in freedom, peace, and mirth ;
The golden times are come that we
Did one day think we ne'er should see ;
Protector and Rump
Did put us in a dump,
When they their colours did display ;
But the time is come about,
We are in, and they are out,
By King Charles his Coronation day.
7. " The Loyal Subject's Exultation for the Coronation of King
Charles the Second." Printed for F. Grove, Snow Hill.
8. "Monarchy triumphant; or, The fatal fall of Rebels," from 120
Loyal Songs, 1684; or 180 Loyal Songs, 1685 and 1694.
In Dr. Dibdin's Decameron, vol. iii., a song called " The King enjoys
his right," is stated to be in the folio MS. which belonged to Dr. Percy.
214 THE EARLIER BALLADS.
Ritson mentions another, of which he could only recollect that the
concluding lines of each stanza, as sung by " an old blind North-country
crowder," were —
" Away with this cursed Rebellion ! It was a happy day,
Oh ! the 2Qth of May, When the King did enjoy his own again."
It was not used exclusively as a Jacobite air, for many songs are
extant which were written to it in support of the House of Hanover ;
such as —
I. " An excellent new ballad, call'd Illustrious George shall come,"
in A Pill to purge State Melancholy, vol. i., 3rd edit., 1716.
2 " Since Hanover is come : a new song." And —
3. " A song for the 28th of May, the birthday of our glorious Sove-
reign, King George," in A Collection of State Songs, Poems •, &c., that have
been published since the Rebellion, and sung at the several Mug-houses in
the cities of London and Westminster, 1716.
Ritson calls this " the most famous and popular air ever heard of in
this country." Invented to support the declining interest of Charles I.,
" it served afterwards," he says, " with more success, to keep up the spirits
of the Cavaliers, and promote the restoration of his son — an event it was
employed to celebrate all over the kingdom. At the Revolution " [of
1688] "it of course became an adherent of the exiled family, whose cause
it never deserted. And as a tune is said to have been a principal means
of depriving King James of the crown " [see Lilliburlero~\, "this very air,
upon two memorable occasions, was very near being equally instrumental
in replacing it on the head of his son. It is believed to be a fact that
nothing fed the enthusiasm of the Jacobites, down almost to the present
reign, in every corner of Great Britain, more than The King shall enjoy
his own again ; and even the great orator of the party, in that celebrated
harangue (which furnished the late Laureate with the subject of one of
his happiest and finest poems), was always thought to have alluded to it
in his remarkable quotation from Virgil —
Carmina turn melius cum venerit ipse canemus ! :>
DANCE TUNES.
[The leaf of parchment upon which the original of the following
tune is written forms the cover to a MS. collection of statutes of
Edward I., now in the Bodleian Library, in Oxford. The notation of
the tune is of exactly the same character as that employed in Sumer
is icumen in, except that the ligatures are much more numerous and
elaborate, in accordance with the more intricate figures of melody they
express. Upon the same leaf are two songs, one English, the other
French, in the same notation, and the words in a handwriting which
experts assign to the year 1260, or thereabouts.1
Bodl. Lib. MSS. Douce, 139.
/( foil. J J
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1 My best thanks are due to Mr. Nicholson, Bodley's Librarian, for much kind help with
regard to this MS.
2l6
DANCE TUNES.
^
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s i i
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fr jj j/sa
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DANCE TUNES.
217
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2l8 DANCE TUNES.
Attention seems to have been first drawn to this tune by Stafford
Smith, who published in Musica Antiqua a translation of a small portion
of it, as he conceived it, which was adopted by Dr. Crotch, and was
also printed in the former edition of this work. But in his time the
thirteenth-century notation was not so well understood as it now is,
or might be ; for, thanks to the late M. de Coussemaker, the con-
temporary treatises, containing clear instructions for the notation of
musical sounds and all combinations of them, have within the last
thirty years been printed, and their contents reduced to system.
The chief difficulty in an age when measurable music was only begin-
ning to be devised, and when as yet neither the dot nor any equivalent
for the time-signature had been invented, was to express intelligibly
the exact duration of sounds. It is upon this point that the treatises
are most particular, and, for us, give most light ; and it is in regard to
this only that the translation shewn above, which I have made in accor-
dance with their rules, will be found to differ from the one hitherto
accepted. — ED.]
EARLIER SIXTEENTH-CENTURY DANCE TUNES.
[Much of the dance music of this period is not properly related to
our subject. The exotic Pavans and Galliards of Henry VIII.'s time,
with their stately measures and courtly titles, are in no sense popular
music, and have nothing in common with a tune like the preceding,
which is evidently a genuine country dance. But in the little volume
in the King's MSS. in the British Museum, from which some of the
songs of this period were taken, three or four dances of a popular charac-
ter are to be found, portions of which are here given below.
A HORNEPYPE.
B.M. MSS., Reg. Appendix 58.
HUGH ASTON.
_ I_L
I I |J
DANCE TUNES.
219
3r*
1_
i
I
sH-shM- JJi^
I
• *^
-^t
A
&*
\(\\ 2 i i
1 III
i J mm m * J
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SE
j J -01 J
UJ* ^ ^^ —
\ 1 I'll!"
J 35=
1 tr— ^ ^— ^ . , 1,
f$7? ^
g? 9 «H
^^r^ n fTIi^
r^^ ^^ r*^
^^ ^^ *
220
DANCE TUNES.
tpt*
d:
e-s
P" 1 1 — j 1
i — T~F> — f~m
35z2 — ^^ —
1 1 1 l-j
/"*-> (~I^s
J*> ^ cJ ^ cJ ,-J
^^ ^r
r- rr
T~V: ' <S ^ — i
H/*J* ^ G> ^ &— •
r- rf-r--
r-^2 d~ ^ ^
1 i
^^^ 1
—& 1 & ^~
r
&c.
&c.
This is a composition by Hugh Aston, a musician of Henry VIII.'s
time, of whom nothing is known at present beyond what has been
preserved of his music, all of which, except this piece, would appear
to be for the Church. The "Hornepype" is exceedingly long, the
portion given above being not quite a fourth of the whole. The form
is obviously popular, and the composition is interesting from its points
of resemblance to the preceding tune. The same constant introduction
of fresh figures of melody may be observed in both, and a similar
treatment of the final note at the end of a period.
THE CROOKE.
B.M. MSS., Reg. Appendix 58.
^^^
[Moderate^
j. . j j.
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DANCE TUNES.
221
[ Variations.}
^
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&c.
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frrr
m
m
TT
rrr
e
^H&c.
The chief interest of this little piece (which I have given with its
original rude accompaniment) lies perhaps in the fact that it shows the
musical form known as " Air and Variations " at the earliest stage of its
existence. The air is probably a dance tune, though of a somewhat
more sober cast than the preceding one.
The popular dance tunes, though generally cheerful, and often merry,
were sometimes grave, and the two which follow bear a name that has
passed into a proverb of melancholy. The Dump is commonly
described as a " slow dance," but nothing exact seems to be known
about it. From these two specimens, which are from the same MS. as
the above, it will, however, appear that more than one kind of dance
must have been classed under the name, since one of the tunes is in
duple, and the other partly in triple measure. The first is called in
the MS., Power manes doumpe ; it is in lute tablature, and there is
practically no accompaniment. The MS. is not free from error, but I
believe the tune should stand as follows : —
LUTE.
P*^
L^_a.«
1 1 — \ — 1 — j-
H
—3 — hi
— j-
-
M— J— 1 .[
^.
ej
—^
c*L_
m
m
222
DANCE TUNES.
The second is My Lady Carets Dompe^ here given with the original
accompaniment.
t=
i i i i
j i
^==^^=^
\ ^
^j-A.
J-*-J
;— p — ^ , r j i w r ^
&C.
r
~
j J r J j J
^ ~ ^
=«=: &c.
After the repetition the composition becomes florid. — ED.]
DANCE TUNES. 223
LATER SIXTEENTH-CENTURY DANCE TUNES.
[Under this heading are included several tunes which are known to
have been in existence in the earlier half of the century, but which were
excluded from the preceding division because no contemporary copies
were to be had ; the rule adopted in the present edition of this work
being that tunes should be considered as belonging rather to the date
under which they are first to be found than to that at which they may
have been first composed. I have not, however, thought it necessary to
apply this rule with absolute strictness in cases where the signs of cor-
ruption were not very apparent ; so that tunes of quite early origin of
which copies cannot be discovered till the beginning of the seventeenth
century will sometimes be found in the division which we are now entering
upon. I cannot assume, with regard to such tunes, that they exhibit
their original form ; but they still retain enough antiquity of style to
separate them from the compositions among which they make their first
appearance.
Also, among the tunes which follow, which are almost all genuine
Country Dance 'tunes,1 will be found the airs of one or two Pavans
and Galliards which would seem, from their frequent occurrence in
the contemporary Lute and Virginal books, to have become popular
favourites. But there is no reason to suppose that these Court dances
were ever adopted by the people at large ; the probability is that their
tunes were only made use of to accompany the popular figures, to which
they were not unsuitable, the strains usually containing the necessary
eight bars. — ED.]
1 [In the former edition of this work (but in The name is found in Morley's Introduction,
another place), and among the author's papers 1597, at p. 181, where, after describing the
connected with it, are some remarks upon this Bransle (see p. 135)9 he continues : "Like to
name, which may perhaps be most conveniently this (but more light) be the voltes and courantes,
introduced here. — ED.] which, being both of a measure, are notwith-
The late John Wilson Croker, in his standing danced after sundrie fashions ; the
Memoirs of the Embassy of Marshal de Bassom- volte rising and leaping, the courante travising
tnerre to the Cottrt of England in 1626, says, and running ; in which measure also our
in a note : " Our Country Dances are a cor- country dance is made, though it be danced
ruption in name, and a simplification in figure, after another forme then any of the former."
cf the French Contredanse. " Mr. De Quincey, On the other hand, the French Contreclanse
in his Life and Manners, and the late Dr. (known in England by the name of Quadrille)
JSusby, in his Dictionary of Music, tell us the cannot be traced to an earlier period than the
same ; and De Quincey's derivation is quoted beginning of the eighteenth century. It is not
in Archbishop Trench's English Past and described by Thoinot Arbeau, or any of the
Present. French writers on dancing, till we come to
224
DANCE TUNES.
TRENCHMORE.
Deuteromelia, 1609 (twice) ; B.M. Eg. MSS., 2,046 ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS.,
Dd. iii. 1 8 ; Dorothy Welde's Lute Book ; The Dancing Master, 1652, &c.
[The origin of this tune must be dated at least as early as Henry
VIII.'s time, since it is included by Ravenscroft in "King Henry's Mirth
and Freemen's Songs," in Deuteromelia, 1609, where he presents it under
two forms. No reference to it under the name of Trenchmore is to be
found before the middle of the sixteenth century, and it remains uncer-
tain whether it was first composed as a song or dance tune ; but as its
earliest appearance in any intelligible form is in Ravenscroft's publication,
his song versions are here taken first in order.
I.
To-morrow the fox will come to town, . . Keep keep keep . . keep : to -
- morrow the fox will come to town, O keep you all well there.
I i . ^ I
I must de - sire you neighbours all, to hallo the fox out of the hall : and
-I 1
.g ( t — - — — | -j I . — i i i
J jzL . .gL. ^
Bonnet, who, in his Histoire de la Danse
(Paris, 1724), p. 135. saYs: "L'usage des
contre-danses nous vient d'un maitre a danser
d'Angleterre, arrive en France il y a douze ou
quinze ans." This seems conclusive, as far as
the dance is concerned. With regard to the
name, M. Framery, in his article on Music in
the Encyclopedic Methodique, 1 79 1, says: "Ce
mot [contre-danse] paroit venir d'Anglois,
country danse, danse de campagne."
DANCE TUNES.
225
cry as loud as you can call, Whoop whoop whoop . . whoop : and
-J 1 , 1 L
cry as loud as you can call, O keep you all well there.
He'll steal the cock out from his flock,
Keep, keep, keep, keep ;
He'll steal the cock e'en from his flock,
O keep you all well there.
I must desire you, £c.
He'll steal the hen out of the pen,
Keep, keep, &c. ;
He'll steal the hen out of the pen,
O keep you all well there.
I must desire you, &c.
He'll steal the dock out of the brook,
Keep, keep, &c. ;
He'll steal the duck out of the brook,
O keep you all well there.
I must desire you, &c.
He'll steal the lamb e'en from his dam,
Keep, keep, £c. ;
He'll steal the lamb e'en from his dam,
O keep you all well there.
I must desire you, &c.
II.
i^
£
Wil - ly pre - the goe to bed for thou wilt have a drow - sie head.
— <"
To - mor - row we must a hun - ting,
and be - times be
stir - ring, with a hey trol - ly lo - ly lo - ly lo - ly lo - ly
«:
£
lo - ly lo - ly, hey tro - lo lo - lo lo
lo.
Q
226 DANCE TUNES.
But it is as a dance tune that it was most popular and famous, and
in that form it was taken, about 1600, as the subject of several elaborate
fantasias for the lute. These, however, are of little use for our present
purpose, for though they have been carefully examined, no trustworthy
version can be extracted from them. John Johnson's composition, for
instance, in the Cambridge MSS. and in Dorothy Welde's Lute Book,
begins thus : —
&c.
=P=F==I
^
but we cannot tell whether this is a received version or only a kind of
parody. In fact, nothing presentable is to be met with until 1652, when
the tune appeared in The Dancing Master, as follows : —
m
-X-
This is the version also given by Sir John Hawkins in the appendix
to his History of Music. It had probably gone out of use in his time,
for he gives it as one of two " very old country dances," and it had
already disappeared from The Dancing Master \\\ 1730. — ED.]
There is an allusion to this dance in a Morality, by William Bulleyn,
called A Dialogue both pleasant and piety full, wherein is a goodly regimen
against the fever pestilence, &c., 1564 : — "There is one lately come into
the hall, in a green Kendal coat, with yellow hose ; a beard of the same
colour, only upon the upper lip ; a russet hat, with a great plume of
strange feathers ; and a brave scarf about his neck ; in cut buskins. He
is playing at the trea trippe with our host's son ; he playeth trick upon
the gittern, daunces Trenchmore and Heie de Gie, and telleth news from
Terra Florida."
Taylor, the water-poet, in A Merry Wherry-ferry Voyage, says : —
" Heigh, to the tune of Trenchmore I could write
The valiant men of Cromer's sad affright ; "
and in A Navy of Land Ships, 1627 — " Nimble-heel'd mariners, like so
DANCE TUNES. 22;
many dancers, capering a morisco [morris-dance], or Trenchmore of forty
miles long, to the tune of * Dusty, my dear,' * Dirty, come thou to me,'
f Dun out of the mire,' or ' I wail in woe and plunge in pain ' : all these
dances have no other music." Deloney, in his History of the Gentle
Craft, 1598, says : "like one dancing the Trenchmore, he stamp'd up and
down the yard, holding his hips in his hands."
Burton alludes to it in his Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 : — "Be we
young or old, though our teeth shake in our heads like Virginal Jacks,
or stand parallel asunder like the arches of a bridge, — there is no
remedy : we must dance Trenchmore over tables, chairs, and stools."
Selden also, in his Table Talk : — " The court of England is much
alter'd. At a solemn dancing, first you had the grave measures, then
the corantoes and the galliards, and this kept up with ceremony ; and at
length to Trenchmore and the Cushion Dance: then all the company
dances, lord and groom, lady and kitchen maid, no distinction. So in
our court in Queen Elizabeth's time, gravity and state were kept up. In
King James's time things were pretty well, but in King Charles's time
there has been nothing but Trenchm-ore and the Cushion Dance, omnium
gatherum, tolly polly, hoite come toite."
Holinshed mentions it in his description of Ireland, c. 2 : — " And
trulie they [suit] a divine as well as for an ass to twang Quipassa on a
harpe or gitterne, or for an ape to friske Trenchmoore in a paire of
buskins and a doublet."
In Weelkes' Ayres or PJtantasticke Sprites, 1608 (see Fairholt on
Tobacco, p. 74) —
" Fill the pipe once more,
My braines daunce Trenchmore? &c.
Trenchmore is mentioned also in Stephen Gosson's Schoole of Abuse,
1579; in Hey wood's A Woman kill' d with Kindness, 1600 ; in Chapman's
Wit of a Woman, 1604; in Barry's Ram Alley, 1611 ; in Beaumont and
Fletcher's Island Princess. In the comedy of The Rehearsal, 1672, the
earth, sun, and moon are made to dance the Hey to the tune of
Trenchmore.
Several political songs were sung to it, one of which is in the collec-
lion of" Poems on Affairs of State, from 1640 to 1704." In the Rox-
burghe Collection of Ballads is one called " The West-country Jigg, or a
Trenchmore Galliard " —
" Four-and-twenty lasses went over Trenchmore Lee."
Q 2
228
DANCE TUNES.
THE SHAKING OF THE SHEETS.
William Ballet's Lute Book, Trin. Coll., Dublin ; Hawkins' History of Music,
Appendix 13.
[*]
I JfiJ I J J . ^ J ^ * I rV J I
^^^ * * ' * I ~ ~ " tta-4-^g*-
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This is the other of the two " very old country dances " given by Sir
John Hawkins, as mentioned under the preceding tune ; and there is the
same uncertainty in this case as in that of Trenchmore whether the
original was a ballad or dance tune. There is, however, an early
ballad, " The dolefull dance and song of Death : intituled Dance after
my pipe," which was evidently intended to be sung to it, and which
begins with a reference to it as a dance tune : —
" Can you dance the Shaking of the Sheets,
a dance that every one must do :
Can you trim it up with dainty sweets,
and everything that 'longs thereto ?
Make ready then your winding sheet,
And see how ye can bestir your feet,
For Death is the man that all must meet."
This ballad is to be found in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 499 ; in
DANCE TUNES.
229
the Ashmolean Museum, in Oxford ; and in the British Museum MSS.
(Addl. 15,225). It was entered at Stationers' Hall to John Awdelay in
1568-9.
Dance after my pipe, which is the second title of the ballad, seems to
have been a proverbial expression. In Beri Jonson's Every Man out of
his Humour, Saviolina says : — " Nay, I cannot stay to dance after your
pipe'' In Vox Borealis, 1641, — " I would teach them to sing another
song, and make them dance after my pipe, ere I had done with them."
And in Middleton's The World lost at Tennis, — " If I should dance after
your pipe, I should soon dance to the devil " ; and so in many other
instances.
In Misogonus (see p. 99), the tune is mentioned as a dance ; and in
The Meeting of Gallants at an Ordinary, the host, describing a young
man who died of the plague, in London, in 1603, says : — " But this
youngster daunced the shaking of one sheete within a few daies after "
(Percy Soc. Reprint, p. 20) ; and in A West-country Jigg, or a Trenchmore
Galliard, verse 5 : —
" The piper he struck up,
And merrily he did play
The Shaking of the Sheets,
And eke The Irish Hay."
The tune is also mentioned in Lilly's Pappe with a Hatchet, 1589 ; in
Gosson's Schoole of Abuse, 1579; by Rowley, Middleton, Taylor the
water-poet, Marston, Massinger, Heywood, Dekker, Shirley, &c., &c.
In 1650 a new tune with this title appeared in The Dancing Master : —
s
^
jU JJ j
i
This tune became very popular, and was still in favour in 1783, when
it appeared in a publication called The Vocal Enchantress.
230
DANCE TUNES.
[*]
DARGISON.
University Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. 13, n.
-i !-
[Fast.:
I
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1C \\ £2 *
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In a MS. in the British Museum — Cotton Lib. (Vespasian A 25) —
there is " A mery ballet of the hathorne tre . . . to be songe after
Donkin Dargeson," which has been printed by Ritson in his Ancienl
Songs and Ballads. It begins —
" It was a maide of my countre,
As she came by a hathorne-tre," &c.
In Ben Jonson's Tale of a Tub we find, " But if you get the lass from
Dargison, what will you do with her ? " And Gifford, in a note upon
this passage, says, " In some childish book of knight-errantry, which I
formerly read, but which I cannot now recall to mind, there is a dwarf
of this name (Dargison), who accompanies a lady of great beauty and
virtue, through many perilous adventures, as her guard and guide." In
the Isle of Gulls, played by the children of the Revels, in the Black
Fryars, 1606, may be found the following scrap, possibly of the original
ballad :—
" An ambling nag, and a-down, a-down,
We have borne her away to Dargison"
In the Douce Collection of Ballads (fol. 207), Bodleian Library, as
well as in the Pepysian, is a song called " The Shropshire Wakes, or
hey for Christmas, &c., to the tune of Dargason?
In Ravenscroft's Pammelia, 1609, the three tunes, " Shall I go walk,"
" Heave and ho, rumbelow," and " Oft have I ridden upon my Grey
Nag," are arranged to be sung together. The last is a version of Dargison
altered, and is as follows : —
DANCE TUNES.
23I
Oft have I rid-den up - on my graynag, and withhis cut tayle he plaid the wag, and
-I-
down he fell up - on his cragge,fa la re la, la ri dan di - no.
No more words are given.
In The Dancing Master, 1650, is another altered version of the tune
353=;
— \ 1 \
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__]_ — _J — ^ — ^ t
flrtxzzaz:
i J i
cJ * ^ f »
— ' ^ c^ ^ | 1*
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fm p eJ
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It is here called " Dargason, or Sedany." The tune was still further
altered and enlarged in later editions of The Dancing Master.
ROGERO.1
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iv. 23, &c. ; William Ballet's Lute Book; and
T. Dallis' Pupil's Lute Book, 1583, Trim Coll., Dublin.
[*]
[Moderate*]
^
-
i_i_^
ri ' :
s
ata
^r
u j
1 Rogero seems to have been a proverbial " When young Rogero goes to see a play,
name for a young gallant. In Henry Parrot's His pleasure is, you place him on the stage," &c.
Laquei ridiculosi, or Springes for Woodcocks, Colliers " Bibliog. Account." 2,
1613:— 112.
232
DANCE TUNES.
Rogero is mentioned as a dance tune in Stephen Gosson's School of
Abuse, 1 579 ; in Hey wood's A Woman kiWd ivith Kindness (acted before
1604) ; and in Nashe's Plave with you to Saffron- Walden, 1596 ; also by
Dekker, in The Shoemaker's Holiday, &c.
Many ballads were sung to the tune of Rogero. In the first volume
of the Roxburghe Collection, for instance, there are at least four ;
others in the Pepysian Collection ; in The Crown Garland of Golden
Roses, 1612 ; in Deloney's Strange Histories, 1607 ; in Percy's Reliques
of Ancient Poetry ; and in Evans' Old Ballads. It is sometimes referred
to under the name of " Arise and awake," from a ballad in the Roxburghe
Collection which begins with those words, entitled —
" A godly and Christian ABC,
Shewing the duty of every degree,"
to the tune of Rogero. This may perhaps be identical with the one
mentioned by Mr. Payne Collier in his extracts from the Stationers'
Registers — "a Ballet called Arise and wake" (1557), though the copy in
the Roxburghe Collection is of later date. In the same year, 1557,
there is an entry of "A Ballett of the A.B.C. of a Priest, called Hugh
Stourmy," and another of " The aged man's A.B.C."
LA VOLTA.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iii. 18 ; Sir John Hawkins5 transcripts ; a transcript
by Dr. Rimbault from MS. virginal music in the possession of T. Birch, Esq., of
Repton.
[*]
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[Moderate.} ^
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TTY
DANCE TUNES.
233
-
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This dance tune, anglice " The French Volta, or the French Levalto,
or Revolto" was appropriated to several ballads, notably to King Henry
II. and the Miller of Mansfield, of which there are copies in the Rox-
burghe Collection (i. 178 and 228), in the Bagford (p. 25), and in
the Pepys. It is also in Old Ballads, 1727, vol. i., p. 53 ; and in Percy's
Reliques, series 3, book 2. The first stanza is —
" Henry, our royal King, would ride a hunting,
To the green forest so pleasant and fair ;
To see the harts skipping, and dainty does tripping,
Unto merry Sherwood his nobles repair.
Hawk and hound were unbound, all things prepared,
For the same, in the same, with good regard.'*
[Dr. Rimbault's transcript (given as the tune in the former edition of
this work) is as follows : —
\The French Levalto.}
r r
r J <*
j j
W «i
* r • i*
•
(CT) 4: J r
1 I
{ • |
9 • m f
* 1
1 ^
*
** J J 'd • :H
«J
0 *f i k
1 1
I ^
.
'•/'ft J — par
I ' 0
-J 1^-
|
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— 1 h— -4 11
7^ 1 *
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— 9
HS -;^l--
The version in Sir John Hawkins' transcripts, where it is called The
Revolto, is practically the same as this.1 — ED.]
l It is remarkable that these last two versions
do not agree with the description of La Volta
given by Sir John Davies in his Orchestra, a
poem upon dancing, printed in Elizabeth's
reign :—
" Yet is there one, the most delightful kind,
A lofty jumping, or a leaping round,
Where arm in arm two dancers are entwin'd,
And whirl themselves with strict embrace-
ments bound.
And still their feet an anapest do sound :
An anapest is all their music's song,
Whose first two feet are short, and third is
long."
This extract I found among the author's
papers, together with a note to the effect that
in the face of this description it was impossible
to maintain that Levalto and La Volta were
the same. But I have since found at Cambridge
the tune printed above at the head, which
does to some extent agree with Sir John
Davies' account, and is also evidently an
earlier version of Levalto ; so that we may
perhaps conclude either that the anapestic
character was gradually eliminated from the
tune to suit the ballads to which it was sung,
or even that the figure of the dance itself
underwent some modification. — ED.
234
DANCE TUNES.
,[*]
PRETTY NANCY.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iv. 23 ; Dancing Master, 4th ed.
-I—
S
.
J.
-^ *
•
=2213
[Fast.]
A.
J.
I { \ ~(*^ '
35 W
9 J
s
a • •
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"^^~ *
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/w\« <W[ ^ — t
^2
* J *
f^j
^2
The name here given is the one under which the tune was found in
the Cambridge Lute MSS. ; but in The Dancing Master it appears as Put
on thy smock on Monday ', under which name also it is mentioned as a
country dance tune in Hey wood's Woman kilt d with Kindness^ act i., sc. 2 ;
and alluded to in Fletcher's Love's Cure, act ii., sc. 2.
[*]
LUSTY GALLANT.
William Ballet's Lute Book, Trin. Coll., Dublin.
n i j i j
F3:
[J/^</<?r«/^.]
r
^
1
rrrr?
-
s
DANCE TUNES. 235
Nicholas Breton mentions Old Lusty Gallant as a dance tune in his
Works of a Young Wit, 1577 :—
. . . . " by chance,
Our banquet done, we had our music by,
And then, you know, the youth must needs go dance,
First galliards — then larousse, and heidegy —
Old Lusty Gallant — All flowers of the broom;
And then a hall, for dancers must have room " ;
and Nashe, in his Terrors of the Night, 1594, says, "After all they danced
Lusty Gallant and a drunken Danish levalto or two."
I have not found any song called Lusty Gallant : perhaps it is referred
to in Massinger's play, The Picture, where Ferdinand says : —
. . . . " is your Theorbo
Turn'd to a distaff, Signior, and your voice,
With which you chanted Room for a lusty Gallant,
Tuned to the note of Lachrymce ? "
In The Gorgeous Gallery of Gallant Inventions, 1 578, there is a " proper
dittie," to the tune of Lusty Gallant ; and Pepys mentions a song with
the burden of " St. George for England," to the tune of List, lusty gallants.
There is a song to the tune of Lusty Gallant in A Handefull of
Pleasant Delites ; and although that volume is not known to have been
printed before 1584, it seems to have been entered at Stationers' Hall as
early as 1565-6. It begins as follows : —
" Twentie jorneyes would I make,
and twentie waies would hie me,
To make adventure for her sake,
to set some matter by me.
But I would faine have a pretie thing,
to give unto my Ladie :
I name no thing, nor I mean no thing,
but as pretie a thing as may bee.
This must have been written, and have attained popularity, either in
or before the year 1 566, because in 1 566-7 a moralization, called Fain
would I have a godly thing to shew unto my lady, was entered, and in
MSS. Ashmole1 48, fol. 120, is a ballad of Troilus and Creseida, beginning —
" When Troilus dwelt in Troy town,
A man of noble fame-a " —
to the tune of Fain would I find some pretty thing, &c., so that, from the
popularity of the ballad, the tune had become known by its name also.
1 Mr. W. H. Black, in his Catalogue of the Chace], Mr. Halliwell has printed the ballad
Ashmolean MSS., describes this volume as of Troilus and Creseida, in the volume con-
written in the middle of the sixteenth century " taining The Marriage of Wit and Wisdomt
— (it is the manuscript which contains Chevy for the Shakespeare Society.
DANCE TUNES.
The popularity of the tune may be estimated not only from the
many ballads written. to it (and they are too numerous to mention), but
also from the fact that Holinshed, in his Chronicles of England, i. 290,
speaks of lusty gallant as a newly devised colour : " I might here name a
sort of hues devised for the nonce, wherewith to please fantastical heads."
Among these are " pease-porridge-tawney, popinjay-blue, lusty rgallani,
the devil in the hedge, and such like."
Elderton wrote " a proper new balad in praise of my Ladie Marques,
whose death is bewailed," to the tune of New Lusty Gallant. A copy of
that ballad was in the possession of Mr. George Daniel, of Canonbury,
but the tune (unknown) must have been different from the one given
above, as the stanza contained seven lines, thus : —
" Ladies, I thinke you marvell that
I writ no mery report to you :
And what is the cause I court it not
So merye as I was wont to dooe ?
Alas ! I let you understand
It is no newes for me to show
The fairest flower of my garland."
ALL FLOWERS OF THE BROOM.
William Ballet's Lute Book (there called Allfloures in broome\l
[*]
>T £ J •
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13
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ac
f(\\ p •
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rh=^|
1 Ballet directs every section of the tune to obtained by playing it without repeats, and sub-
be played three times. This may perhaps stituting the plain chord, which I have printed
have been rendered necessary by the dance in brackets at the end of the first and third
figure, but a better idea of the melody will be sections, for the final bar of the original.— ED.
DANCE TUNES.
237
-&-
m
-^-' 1 Jjil
-IF^ »* *-»'
r
-^ -n F-^
—L^-jtt j 1 —
r3 — 3 —
^-^fl-p—
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w ^& jar—Jg. .+_ & &
i -p- i r i ' '
, -i ' i J J J J
^ — ' — L__1__C2_!
^/» if ^jj*TI? ^-"r^ ^
CZZ: /ra ^7
This is mentioned as a dance tune by Nicholas Breton, in the passage
quoted under the previous tune, from his Works of a Young Wit, 1 577 ;
and by Nashe, in Have with you to Saffron- Walden> 1596.
[*]
TURKEYLONY.
William Ballet's Lute Book, Trin. Coll., Dublin.
s±
1^6
^t
j. j.
J J
J.
i ' r • r
z
f
I I I
.<sL .^- jd.
j
t~
r-
DANCE TUNES.
y+3
-KM 1
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4 'i J H
j — f-^c-=^jt
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The figure of the dance called Turkeylony is described with others
in a manuscript in the Bodleian Library (MS. Rawl. Poet. 108), which
was written about 1570. Stephen Gosson, in his Schoole of Abuse, con-
taining a pleasant Invective against Poets, Pipers, Players, Jesters, &c.,
1579, alludes to the tune as one of the most popular in his day:
"Terpander neither piped Rogero, nor Turkeloney, when he ended the
brabbles at Lacedemon, but, putting them in mind of Lycurgus' laws,
taught them to tread a better measure," &c.
Turkeylony is also mentioned, as a dance tune, in Nashe's Have with
you to Saffron- Walden, in the passage referred to under the preceding
tune, thus : — " Dick Harvey .... having preacht and beat downe three
pulpits in inveighing against dauncing, one Sunday evening, when his
wench or friskin was footing it aloft on the greene, with foote out and
foote in, and as busie as might be at Rogero, Baselino, Turkelony, All
the flowers of the broom, Pepper is black, Greene Sleeves, Peggy Ramsey,
came sneaking behind a tree, and lookt on," &c.
DANCE TUNES.
239
GREEN SLEEVES.
William Ballet's Lute Book ; Sir John Hawkins' transcripts.
j N
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Alas my love ye do me wrong,
to cast me off discurteously :
And I have loved you so long,
delighting in your companie.
r • f -"•"
Gieensleeves was all my joy,
Greensleeves was my delight :
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
and who but Ladie Greensleeves.
The earliest mention of the ballad of Green Sleeves in the Registers
of the Stationers' Company is in September, 1580, when Richard Jones
had licensed to him "A new Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene
Sleeves" The date of the entry, however, is not always the date of the
ballad ; and this had evidently attained some popularity before that
time, because on the same day Edward White had a license to print,
"A ballad, being the Ladie Greene Sleeves Answere to Donkyn his
frende." « A new courtly sonet of the Lady Greensleeves, to the new
240 DANCE TUNES.
tune of Greensleves," was brought out in A Handefull of Pleasant
Delites, 1584 (by the same Richard Jones), from which the words given
above have been taken. There are eighteen stanzas in all.
Within twelve days of the first entry of Green Sleeves it was con-
verted to a pious use, and we have " Greene Sieves moralised to the
Scripture, declaring the manifold benefites and blessings of God
bestowed on sinful man " ; and on the fifteenth day Edward White had
" tollerated unto him by Mr. Watkins, a ballad intituled Greene Sleeves
and Countenance, in Countenance is Greene Sleeves."
Great, therefore, was the popularity of the ballad immediately after
its publication, and this may be attributed rather to the merry swing of
the tune, than to the words, which are neither remarkable for novelty of
subject, nor for its treatment.
An attempt was speedily made to improve upon them, or to supply
others of more attractive character, for in December of the same year
Jones, the original publisher, had " tolerated to him A merry newe
Northern Songe of Greene Sleeves" beginning, The bonniest lass in all
the land. This was perhaps the ballad that excited William Elderton
to write his " Reprehension against Greene Sleeves " in the following
February, for there appears nothing in the existing older songs to have
caused it The seventh entry within the year was on the 24th of August,
1581, when Edward White had licensed " a ballad intituled —
" Greene Sleeves is worne awaie,
Yellow Sleeves come to decaie.
Blacke Sleeves I holde in despite,
But White Sleeves is my delight."
Shakespeare, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, twice makes mention
of the tune : —
Falstaff. — " Let the sky rain potatoes ! let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves,
hail kissing comfits, and snow eringoes, let there come a tempest of provocation, I
will shelter me here." — Act v., sc. 5.
Mrs. Ford. — " I shall think the worse of fat men, as long as I have an eye to
make difference of men's liking. And yet he would not swear ; praised women's
modesty ; and gave such orderly and well-behaved reproof to all uncomeliness, that
I would have sworn his disposition would have gone to the truth of his words : but
they do no more adhere and keep pace together, than the Hundredth Psalm to the
tune of Green Sleeves? — Act ii., sc. I.
Also Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Loyal Subject : — " And set our
credits to the tune of Greene Sleeves"
Nashe, speaking of Barnes' Divine Centurie of Sonets, says they are
u such another device as the goodly ballet of John Careless, or the song
of Green Sleeves Moralized." Fletcher says: "And, by my Lady Green-
sleeves, am I grown so tame after all my triumphs ? " and Dr. Rainoldes,
DANCE TUNES. 241
in his Overthrow of Stage Plays, 1599, refers to one " William, Bishop of
Ely, who, to save his honour and wealth, became a Green Sleeves, going
in woman's raiment from Dover Castle to the sea-side," &c.
In Mr. Payne Collier's Collection, and in that of the Society of
Antiquaries, are copies of " A Warning to false Traitors, by example of
fourteen ; whereof six were executed in divers places neere about
London, and two near Braintford, the 28th day of August, 1588 ; also at
Tyborne were executed the 3Oth day six ; viz., five men and one
woman : to the tune of Green Sleeves" It begins : —
" You traitors all that do devise Consider what the end will be
To hurt our Queen in treacherous wise, Of traitors all in their degree :
And in your hearts do still surmise Hanging is still their destiny
Which way to hurt our England ; That trouble the peace of England."
Elderton's ballad, The King of Scots and Andrew Brown, was to be
sung to the tune of Mill-field^ or else to Green Sleeves, but the measure
suits the former better than the latter. However, his " New Yorkshire
Song," intituled —
" Yorke, Yorke, for my monie,
Of all the cities that ever I see,
For merry pastime and companie,
Except the cittie of London ; "
which is dated " from Yorke, by W. E., and imprinted at London by
Richard Jones," in 1584, is so suitable to Green Sleeves, that, although
no tune is mentioned on the title, I feel but little doubt of its having
been intended for that air. It was written during the height of its
popularity, and not long after his own " Reprehension."
Copies will be found in the Roxburghe Collection, i, I, and Evans'
Old Ballads, i. 20. It begins, " As I come thorow the North countrey,"
and is referred to in Hey wood's King Edward IV., 1600 : " If it be
Edward, I can sing, York, York for my money" Also in Richard Brome's
comedy of the Northern Lasse : " I have a great many Southerne songs
already ; but Northern ayres nip it dead : York, York, for my money''
Another ballad sung to the tune of Green Sleeves was the Lord of Lome
and the False Steward, entered on October 6, 1580. Copies are in the
Tepys Collection (i. 494), and the Roxburghe (i. 222).
During the Civil Wars it became one of the party tunes of the
Cavaliers, and in the " Collection of Loyal Songs written against the
Rump Parliament " there are no less than fourteen to be sung to it. It
\vas also sung to a ballad of The Blacksmith beginning —
" Of all the trades that ever I see,
There is none with the blacksmith's compared may be,
For with so many several tools works he,
Which nobody can deny.
242
DANCE TUNES.
This last line began to be a favourite ending for songs to the tune, and
continued to be so till quite within recent memory. Green Sleeves, now
sometimes called The Blacksmith, was also the tune appointed for the
The Brewer, or Old Noll the Brewer of Huntingdon, to be found in The
Antidote to Melancholy, 1661, and in Wit and Drollery, 1661. In a
volume of ballads in the King's Library, British Museum, there is one
called The City of London's New Litany, to the tune of The Blacksmith ;
and Pepys, in his diary, 22nd April, 1660, says that after playing at nine-
pins, " my lord fell to singing a song upon the Rump, to the tune of The
Blacksmith"
Considering that there appears to have been no break in the course of
its popularity, it is hard to account for its omission from the earlier
editions of the Dancing Master. Its first appearance there is in 1686,
under the name of Green Sleeves and Pudding Pies ; and the changes
wrought in it by time and constant use may be perceived from the
following copy : —
Green Sleeves and Pudding Pies was one of the songs contained in
Sportive Wit, or the Muses Merriment, &c., 1656. But of a later
song, which would appear to be the cause of another change of name in
the latest editions of the Dancing Master, — Green sleeves and yellow lace,
— nothing is known. In the Ballad Opera of Silvia, or The County
Burial, 1/31, the tune appears under the name of At Rome there is a
terrible rout, which was a song of James IL's reign, on the birth of
the prince afterwards known as the Old Pretender : — " Father Peter's
Policy discovered ; or the Prince of Wales proved a Popish Perkin."
London, printed for R, M.
DANCE TUNES.
STAINES MORRIS.
William Ballet's Lute Book ; Dancing Master •, 1650-51 (much altered).
243
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The Morris-dance was sometimes performed by itself, but was much
more frequently joined to processions and pageants, especially to those
for the celebration of May-day and the games of Robin Hood. The
appointed festival, instituted in honour of Robin Hood, was usually
solemnized on the first and succeeding days of May, and owed its original
establishment to the cultivation and improvement of the manly exercise
of archery, which was not, in former times, practised merely for the sake
of amusement.
The Morris-dance, when performed on May-day, and not connected
with the games of Robin Hood, usually consisted of the Lady of. the
May, the fool or jester, a piper, and two, four, or more, Morris-dancers.
But, on other occasions, the hobby-horse, and sometimes a dragon, with
Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John, and other charac-
ters supposed to have been the companions of that famous outlaw, were
added to the dance. Maid Marian was sometimes represented by a
smooth-faced youth dressed in a female garb ; Friar Tuck, Robin Hood's
chaplain, by a man of portly form in the habit of a Franciscan friar ;
R 2
244 DANCE TUNES.
the hobby-horse was a pasteboard resemblance of the head and tail of
a horse, on a wicker frame, and attached to the body of a man, who,
with feet concealed by a foot-cloth hanging to the ground, was to
imitate the ambling, the prancing, and the curvetting of the horse ; the
dragon (constructed of the same materials) was made to hiss, yell, and
shake his wings, and was frequently attacked by the man on the hobby-
horse, who then personated St. George.
The garments of the Morris-dancers were- adorned with bells, which
were not placed there merely for the sake of ornament, but sounded as
they danced. These, worn round the elbows and knees, were of unequal
sizes, and differently denominated ; as the fore bell, the second bell,
the treble, the mean or counter-tenor, the tenor, the great bell or bass,
and sometimes double bells were worn.1 The principal dancer in the
Morris was more superbly habited than his companions ; as appears from
a passage in The Blind Beggar of Bethnall Green (dramatized from the
ballad of the same name), by John Day, 1659 : " He wants no clothes,
for he hath a cloak laid on with gold lace, and an embroidered jerkin ;
and thus he is marching hither like the foreman of a Morris"
In The Vow-breaker, or Fair Maid of Clifton, by William Sampson,
1636, we find : " Have I not practised my reins, my careers, my prankers,
my ambles, my false trots, my smooth ambles, and Canterbury paces— and
shall the mayor put me besides the hobby-horse ? I have borrowed the
fore-horse bells, his plumes, and braveries ; nay, I have had the mane new
shorn and frizzled. Am I not going to buy ribbons and toys of sweet
Ursula for the Marian — and shall I not play the hobby-horse? Provide
thou the dragon, and let me alone for the hobby-horse." And afterwards :
" Alas, sir ! I come only to borrow a few ribbands, bracelets, ear-rings,
wire-tiers, and silk girdles, and handkerchers, for a Morris and a show
before the queen ; I come to furnish the hobby-horse."
There is a curious account of twelve persons of the average age of
a hundred years dancing the Morris, in an old book, called " Old Meg of
Herefordshire for a Mayd Marian, and Hereford towne for a Morris-
dance ; or twelve Morris-dancers in Herefordshire of 1,200 years old," z
4to, 1609. It is dedicated to the renowned old Hall, taborer of Here-
fordshire, and to " his most invincible weather-beaten nut-brown tabor,
1 For the bells of the Morris, see Ford's play amounted to 800 years ; probably the same as
The Witch of Edmonton, act ii., sc, I. mentioned by Lord Bacon, as happening " a
2 Brand in his Popular Antiquities, vol. ii., few years since in the county of Hereford." —
p. 208, 1813, gives an account of a May-game, (See History, Natural and Experimental, of
or Morris-dance, by eight persons in Here- Life and Death, 1638.)
fordshire, whose ages, computed together,
DANCE TUNES. 245
which hath made bachelors and lasses dance round about the May-pole
three-score summers, one after another in order, and is not yet worm-
eaten." The author continues : " The People of Herefordshire are
beholding to thee ; thou givest the men light hearts by thy pipe, and the
women light heeles by thy tabor. O wonderful piper ! O admirable
tabor-man !"..." The wood of this olde Hall's tabor should have
been made a paile to carrie water in at the beginning of King Edward
the Sixt's reigne ; but Hall (being wise, because hee was even then
reasonably well strucken in years) saved it from going to the water, and
converted it in these days to a tabor."
Hall, who had then " stood, like an oak, in all storms, for ninety-seven
winters," is recommended to " imitate that Bohemian Zisca, who at his
death gave his soldiers a strict command to flay his skin off, and cover a
drum with it, that alive and dead he might sound like a 'terror in the ears
of his enemies : so thou, sweet Hereford Hall, bequeath in thy last will,
thy vellum spotted skin to cover tabors ; at the sound of which to set all
the shires a-dancing." J Hall and the Morris are again referred to, by
Nashe, in the play of Summer's Last Will and Testament ', 1600 : —
VER goes in andfetcheth out the Hobby -horse and the Morris-dance, who dance about.
Ver. — About, about ! lively put your horse to it ; rein him harder ; jerk him with
your wand. Sit fast, sit fast, man ! Fool, hold up your ladle 2 there !
Will Summer. — O brave Hall ! O well said, butcher ! Now for the credit of
Worcestershire. The finest set of Morris-dancers that is between this and Streatham.
Marry, methinks there is one of them danceth like a clothier's horse, with a wool-pack
upon his back. You, friend, with the hobby-horse, go not too fast, for fear of wearing
out my lord's tile-stones with your hob-nails.
Ver. — So, so, so ; trot the ring twice over, and away.
The celebration. of May-day may be traced as far back as Chaucer
who, in the conclusion of his Court of Love -, has thus described it : —
" And furth goith all the courte both most and leste
To feche the floures fressh and braunch and blome ;
And namly hawthorn brought both page and grome,
With fressh garlantis partie blewe and white,
And hem rejoysen in here grete delite.
Eke eche at other threwe the floures brighte,
The prymerose, the violet, and the gold," &c.
1 The author elsewhere in his work mentions near (if one had line enough to measure it)
the various parts of the kingdom in which three quarters of Christendom. Never had
special excellences in dancing were to be found. Saint Sepulchre's a truer ring of bells ; never
" The court of kings is for stately measures ; did any silk-weaver keep braver time ; never
the city foi light heels and nimble footing; could Beverley Fair give money to a more
Western men for gambols ; Middlesex men for sound taborer ; nor ever had Robin Hood a
tricks above ground ; Essex men for the Hey; more deft Maid Marian."
Lancashire for Hornpipes ; Worcestershire for 2 The ladle is still used by the sweeps on
bagpipes ; but Herefordshire for a Morris- May-day,
dance, puts down not only all Kent, but very
246 DANCE TUNES.
" I find," says Stow, describing a later period, "that in the month of May
the citizens of London, of all estates, lightly in every parish, or sometimes
two or three parishes joining together, had their several Mayings, and did
fetch in May-poles, with divers warlike shews, with good arctiers, Morris-
dancers, and other devices for pastime all the day long : and towards the
evening they had stage-plays and bonfires in the streets. . . . These great
Mayings and May-games, made by the governors and masters of this
city, with the triumphant setting up of the great shaft [a principal May-
pole in Cornhill, before the parish church of St. Andrew, which, from the
pole being higher than the steeple itself, was, and still is, called St.
Andrew Undershaft], by means of an insurrection of youths against
aliens on May-day, 1517,* the ninth of Henry the Eighth, have not been
so freely used as afore." — (Survey of London, 1 598, p 72.)
Bourne, in his Antiquitates Vulgares, says : " On the Calends, or first
day of May, commonly called May-day, the juvenile part of both sexes
were wont to rise a little before midnight and walk to some neighbour-
ing wood, accompanied with music, and the blowing of horns, where
they brake down branches from the trees, and adorn them with nosegays
and crowns of flowers. When this is done, they return with their booty
homewards, about the rising of the sun, and make their doors and
windows to triumph in the flowery spoil. The after part of the day is
chiefly spent in dancing round a tall pole they call a May-pole ; which
being placed in a convenient part of the village, stands there, as it were
consecrated to the goddess of flowers, without the least violence offered
it in the whole circle of the year." Borlase, in his Natural History of
Cornwall, tells us : " An ancient custom, still retained by the Cornish, is
that of decking their doors and porches, on the first of May, with green
sycamore and hawthorn boughs, and of planting trees, or rather stumps
of trees, before their houses : and on May-eve, they from towns make
excursions into the country, and having cut down a tall elm, brought it
into town, fitted a straight and taper pole to the end of it, and painted
the same, erect it in the most public places, and on holidays and
festivals adorn it with flower garlands, or insigns and streamers."
Philip Stubbes, the puritan, thus describes "the order of their
May-games " in Elizabeth's reign. " Against May, Whitsuntide, or
some other time of the year, every parish, town, and village, assemble
1 The " Story of 111 May-day, in the time of ot an old ballad in Johnson's Crown Garland
Henry the Eight, and why it is so called ; and of Golden Roses, and has been reprinted in
how Queen Catherine begged the lives of two Evans' Old Ballads, vol. iii , p. 76, edition of
thousand London apprentices," is the subject 1810.
DANCE TUNES. 247
themselves together, both men, women, and children ; and either all
together, or dividing themselves into companies, they go, some to
the woods and groves, some to the hills and mountains, some to
one place, some to another, and in the morning they return, bring-
ing with them birch boughs and branches of trees, to deck their
assemblies withal But their chiefest jewel they bring from
thence is their May-pole, which they bring home with great veneration,
as thus : they have twenty or forty yoke of oxen, every ox having
a sweet nosegay of flowers tied to the tip of his horns ; and these
oxen draw home this May-pole (this stinking idol rather), which is
covered all over with flowers and herbs, bound round about with strings,
from the top to the bottom, and sometimes painted with variable colours,
with two or three hundred men, women, and children, following it with
great devotion. And this being reared up, with handkerchiefs and
flags streaming on the top, they strew the ground about, bind green
boughs about it, set up summer halls, bowers, and arbours, hard by it ;
and then fall they to banquet and feast, to leap and dance about it, as
the heathen people did at the dedication of their idols, whereof this is a
perfect pattern, or rather the thing itself." — (Anatomic of Abuses , reprint
of 1585 edit, p. 171.)
Browne, also, has given a similar description of the May-day rites
in his Britannia's Pastorals, book ii., song 4 : —
" As I have seen the Lady of the May
Sit in an arbour, ....
Built by a May-pole, where the jocund swains
Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe's strains,
When envious night commands them to be gone,
Call for the merry youngsters one by one,
And, for their well performance, [then] dispose
To this a garland interwove with rose ;
To that a carved hook, or well-wrought scrip ;
Gracing another with her cherry lip :
To one her garter ; to another, then,
A handkerchief, cast o'er and o'er again ;
And none returneth empty, that hath spent
His pains to fill their rural merriment."
Full particulars of the Morris-dance and May-games may be found
by referring to Strutt's Sports and Pastimes ; to Ritson's Robin Hood;
to an account of a painted window, appended to part ii. of Henry IV '., in
Steevens' Shakespeare, the xv. vol. edition ; to Gifford's Ben Jonson, vol.
i. pp. 50, 51, 52, vol. iv. p. 405, and vol. vii. p. 397; to The British
Bibliographer, vol iv. p. 326; Brand's Popular Antiquities; Douce's
Illustrations of Shakespeare; and Dr. Drake's Shakespeare and his
Times, vol. i., &c., &c.
248 DANCE TUNES.
PEG-A RAMSEY.
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In Twelfth Night, act ii., sc. 3, Sir Toby says, " Malvolio's a Feg-a
Ramsey" and a version of the above is given by Sir John Hawkins (see
Steevens' edition of Shakespeare) as the tune intended. He says,
" Peggy Ramsey is the name of some old song "; but, as usual, does not
cite his authority. It is mentioned as a dance tune by Nashe, and in
The Shepherd's Holiday —
" Bounce it, Mall, I hope thou will,
For I know that thou has skill ;
And I am sure thou there shall find
Measures store to please thy mind.
Roundelays — Irish hayes ;
Cogs and Rongs, and Peggie Ramsyj
Spaniletto— The Venetto ;
John come kiss me — Wilson's Fancy.
But of all there's none so sprightly
To my ear, as Touch me lightly?
— Wit* s Recreations > 1640.
" Little Pegge of Ramsie " is one of the tunes in a manuscript by Dr.
Bull, which formed a part of Dr. Pepusch's, and afterwards of Dr.
Kitchener's, library. Ramsey, in Huntingdonshire, was formerly an
important town, and called " Ramsey the rich," before the destruction of
its abbey.
Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, says : " So long as we are
wooers, we may kiss at our pleasure, nothing is so sweet, we are in
heaven as we think ; but when we are once tied, and have lost our
liberty, marriage is an hell. ' Give me my yellow hose again '; a mouse
in a trap lives as merrily."
" Give me my yellow hose " is the burden of a ballad called —
"A merry jest of John Tomson, and Jackaman his wife,
Whose jealousy was justly the cause of all their strife ";
to the tune of Pegge of Ramsey ; beginning thus : —
DANCE TUNES.
249
" When I was a bachelor
I led a merry life,
But now I am a married man
And troubled with a wife,
" I cannot do as I have done,
Because I live in fear ;
If I go but to Islington,
My wife is watching there.
" Give me my yellow hose again,
Give me my yellow hose,
For now my wife she watcheth me ;
See yonder where she goes."
It has been reprinted in Evans' Old Ballads, i. 187 (1810), See also 0
London is a fine town, later on, for a song to that tune, called " Bonny
Peggy Ramsey."
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written in the reign of Elizabeth. In 1579 "a ballat intituled There is
better game if you could hit it" was licensed to Hughe Jaxon.
In Love's Labour Lost, act iv., sc. i, Rosaline and Boyet sing the
following lines, which are probably an imitation of some part of the
original song : —
R. — Thou canst not hit it, hit it, hit it ; Thou canst not hit it, my good man.
B.— An I cannot, cannot, cannot ; An I cannot, another can.
250
DANCE TUNES.
WIGMORE'S GALLIARD.
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In Middleton's Your Five Gallants, Jack says : " This will make my
master leap out of the bed for joy, and dance Wigmore's Galliard
about his chamber ! " Among many ballads to the tune are " A most
excellent new Dittie, wherein is shewed the wise sayings and wise
sentences of Solomon, wherein each estate is taught his dutie, with
singular counsell to his comfort and consolation " (a copy in the
Collection of the late Mr. W. H. Miller, from Heber's Library). " A
most famous Dittie of the joyful receiving of the Queen's most excellent
DANCE TUNES.
251
Majestie by the worthie citizens of London, the I2th day of November,
1584, at her Grace's coming to St. James' "(a copy in the Collection of
Mr. George Daniel). In the Pepys Collection, i. 455, is "A most
excellent Ditty called Collin's Conceit," beginning —
" Conceits of sundry sorts there are."
Others are in the second volume of the Pepys Collection ; in the Rox-
burghe, 1,484, &c. ; in Anthony Munday's Banquet of Daintie Conceits ;
in Deloney's Strange Histories, 1607, &c.
THE SPANISH PAVAN.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; William Ballet's Lute Book ; Dorothy Welde's Lute
Book; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. iii. 18 ; Sir J. Hawkins' transcripts of
Virginal Music ; B.M. Addl. MSS., 31,392, &c.
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DANCE TUNES.
The tune of The Spanish Pavan was very popular in the reigns of
Elizabeth and James. One of the songs in Anthony Munday's Banquet
of Daintie Conceits ; 1588, is "to the note of The Spanish Pavin" ;
another in part iL of Robin Goodfellow, 1628 ; and there are many in
the Pepys and Roxburghe Collections of Ballads.
Dekker, in his Knight's Conjuring (1607), mentions it in the follow-
ing speech : — " Thou, most clear-throated singing man, with thy harp, to
the twinkling of which inferior spirits skipp'd like goats over the Welsh
mountains, hadst privilege (because thou wert a fiddler) to be saucy ?
Inspire me with thy cunning, and guide me in true fingering, that I may
strike those tunes which thou play'dst ! Lucifer himself danced a
Lancashire Hornpipe whilst thou wert there. If I can but harp upon
thy string, he shall now, for my pleasure, tickle up The Spanish Pavan"
It is mentioned as a dance in act iv., sc. 2, of Middleton's Blurt,
Master Constable, 1602 ; and in act i., sc. 2, of Ford's *Tis Pity, 1633.
In the former the tune is played for Lazarillo to dance The Spanish
Pavan. The dance was different from other Pavans, and is described
in Thoinot Arbeau's Orchesographie^ 1589; but the tune there printed is
wholly different from the above, which may very possibly be an English
tune composed to suit the special figure.
PAVANE D'ESPAGNE FROM THOINOT ARBEAU.
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A ballad, " When Samson was a tall young man," which is directed
to be sung to The Spanish Pavan, is in the Pepys Collection, i. 32 ; in
the Roxburghe, i. 366 ; and in Evans' Old Ballads^ i. 283 (1810). It is
parodied in Eastiuard Hoe, the joint production of Ben Jonson, Marston,
and Chapman, act ii., sc. i, where the first two lines are the same as in
the ballad.
DANCE TUNES.
253
THE CARMAN'S WHISTLE.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Jane Pickering's Lute Book,
B.M. Eg. MSS. 2,046 ; &c.
WILLIAM BYRD.
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The ballad, which is not suitable for publication in this work, is
mentioned in a letter, bearing the signature of T. N., addressed to his
good friend A[nthony] M[unday], prefixed to the latter's translation of
Gerileon of England, part ii., 4to, 1592; and by Henry Chettle in his
Kind-hart's Dreame, printed in the same year.
The carmen of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries appear to
have been singularly famous for their musical abilities ; but especially
for whistling their tunes. Falstaff s description of Justice Shallow is,
that " he came ever in the rear-ward of the fashion," and " sang the
tunes he heard the carmen whistle, and svvare they were his Fancies, or
his Good-nights." x — (Henry IV., part ii., act 3.) In Ben Jonson's Bar-
tholomew Fair, Waspe says : " I dare not let him walk alone, for fear of
1 Good-nights are " Last dying speeches" made into ballads. —(See Essex's Last Good-night.}
254 DANCE TUNES.
learning vile tunes, which he will sing at supper, and in the sermon
times ! If he meet but a carman in the street, and I find him not talk
to keep him off him, he will whistle him all his tunes over at night,
in his sleep."— (Act i., sc. i.) In the tract called " The World runnes on
Wheeles,"1 by Taylor, the Water-poet, he says : " If the carman's horse
be melancholy or dull with hard and heavy labour, then will he, like a
kind piper, whistle him a fit of mirth to any tune, from above Eela to
below Gammoth ; 2 of which generosity and courtesy your coachman is
altogether ignorant, for he never whistles, but all his music is to rap out
an oath." And again he says : " The word carmen, as I find it in the
[Latin] dictionary, doth signify a verse, or a song ; and betwixt carmen
and carman, there is some good correspondence, for versing, singing, and
whistling, are all three musical." Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy,
says : " A carman's whistle, or a boy singing some ballad early in the
street, many times alters, revives, recreates a restless patient that cannot
sleep " ; and again : " As carmen, boys, and prentices, when a new song
is published with us, go singing that new tune still in the streets."
Henry Chettle, in his Kind-hart's Dreame, says : " It would be thought
the carman, that was wont to whistle to his beasts a comfortable note,
might as well continue his old course, whereby his sound served for a
musical harmony in God's ear, as now to follow profane jigging vanity."
In The Pleasant His tor ie of the two Angrie Women of Abington, 4to,
1599, Mall Barnes asks : " But are ye cunning in the carman's lash, and
can ye whistle well ?" In The Hog hath lost its Pearl, Haddit, the poet,
tells the player shortly to expect "a notable piece of matter ; such a jig,
whose tune, with the natural whistle of a carman, shall be more ravishing
to the ears of shopkeepers than a whole concert of barbers at midnight."
— (Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. vi.) So in Lyly's Midas: "A carter with his
whistle and his whip, in true ears, moves as much as Phcebus with his
fiery chariot and winged horses." In Hey wood's A Woman kill' d with
Kindness there is a stage direction : — " Exeunt except Wendall and
Jenkin ; the carters whistling"
1 Taylor's tract was written against coaches, of the Pagan temples, in which the cannibals
which injured his trade as a waterman. He adored the devil." He argues that the cart-
says: "In the year 1564, one William Boonen, horse is a more learned beast than a coach-
a Dutchman, brought first the use of coaches horse, "for scarce any coach-horse in the
hither, and the said Boonen was Queen Eliza- world doth know any letter in the book ; when
beth's first coachman, for indeed a coach was a as every cart-horse doth know the letter G
strange monster in those days, and the sight of most understandingly."
them put both horse and man into amazement. 2 Gamut, then the lowest note of the scale,
Some said it was a great crab-shell, brought as E la was the highest,
out of China, and some imagined it to be one
DANCE TUNES.
255
THE GIPSIES' ROUND.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
WILLIAM BYRD.
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DANCE TUNES.
By Round is here meant a country dance. Country dances were
formerly danced quite as much in rounds as in parallel lines ; and in the
reign of Elizabeth were in favour at court as well as at the Maypole. In
the Talbot Papers, Herald's College, is a letter from the Earl of Worcester
to the Earl of Shrewsbury, dated Sept. 19, 1602, in which he says: "We
are frolic here in court ; much dancing in the privy chamber of country
dances before the Queen's Majesty, who is much pleased therewith."
Whenever gipsies are introduced in old plays, we find some allusions
to their singing, dancing, or music, and generally a variety of songs to
be sung by them. In Middleton's Spanish Gipsy, Roderigo, being
invited to turn gipsy, says : —
" I can neither dance, nor sing ; but if my pen
From my invention can strike music tunes,
My head and brains are yours."
In other words, " I think I can invent tunes, and therefore have one
qualification for a gipsy, although I cannot dance or sing."
SELLENGER'S ROUND,
OR
THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Lady Neville's Virginal Book ; William Ballet's
Lute Book ; Music's Handmaid, 1678, &c.
WILLIAM BYRD.
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DANCE TUNES.
257
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In Bacchus' Bountie (410, 1 593), we find this passage : " While thus
they tippled, the fiddler he fiddled, 'and the pots danced for joy the
old hop-about commonly called Sellengars Round!' In Middleton's
Father Hubburd's Tales (1604): "Do but imagine now what a sad
Christmas we all kept in the country, without either carols, wassail bowls,
dancing of Sellengers Round in moonshine nights about Maypoles, shoeing
the mare, hoodman blind, hot cockles, or any of our Christmas gambols,
— no, not so much as choosing king and queen on Twelfth Night ! " In
Hey wood's Fair Maid of the West, part ii. : " They have so tired me
with their moriscoes [Morris-dances], and I have so tickled them with
our country dances, Sellengers Round 'and Tom Tiler'' In Shirley's Lady
of Pleasure, Lady Bornwell says that, " to hear a fellow make himself
merry and his horse with whistling Sellengers Round, and to observe with
what solemnity they keep their wakes, moriscoes, and Whitsun-ales, are
the only amusements of the country." And in }&<x\?y>s PUune and Easie
Introduction to Practicall Musicke, 1 597, one of the pupils, ridiculing the
exercise written by his friend, says : " I promise you (brother) you are
much beholding to Sellinger's Round for that beginning of yours." The
remark is not without reason, for the first four bars are identical with the
tune.
The popularity of the tune was so great that it would be impossible to
mention all the references to it in old writers. It must be sufficient to
say that it is mentioned three or four times by Heywood ; also by Ben
Jonson, by Taylor the Water-poet, by Fletcher, Sir Wm. Davenant,
s
258 DANCE TUNES.
Shirley, Cleveland (1640), Marmion (1641), Brome, Farquhar, Wycher-
ley ; by the author of The Return from Parnassus, and by many others.
A late reference to it is to be found in Oldham's third satire upon the
Jesuits (vol. i. of his Works, p. 48, edit, of 1732), as follows : —
" 'Twas found a good and gainful art of old
(And much it did our Church's Pow'r uphold)
To feign Hobgoblins, Elves, or walking Sprites,
And Fairies dancing Salenger o' nights."
There is a woodcut of a number of young men and women dancing
SellengeSs Round, with hands joined, round a Maypole, on the title-page
of a black letter garland called The new Crown Garland of Princely
Pastime and Mirth, printed by J. Back, on London Bridge. In the
centre are two musicians, the one playing the fiddle, the other the pipe,
with the inscription, " Hey for Bellinger's Round ! " above them.
" The Fair Maid of Islington, or the London Vintner over-reached,"
in the Bagford Collection ; " Robin's Courtship," in Wit Restored, 1658,
and a ballad upon Queen Elizabeth, in Choice Drollery, were sung to
this tune. And in the British Museum, Bib. R.eg., 12, B. I, is a song to
the " tune of SallingeSs Round!' which begins —
" There was a mad lad had an acre of ground,
And he sold it for five pound :
He went to the tavern and drank it all out
Unless it were one half-crown."
A curious reason for the second name to this tune is given in the
comedy of Lingua, 1607. " Anamnestes. — By the same token the first
tune the planets played; I remember Venus, the treble, ran sweet division
upon Saturn, the base. The first tune they played was Sellinger's Round,
in memory whereof, ever since, it hath been called The Beginning of the
World" On this, Common Sense asks : " How comes it we hear it not
now?" and Memory, another of the characters, says: " Our ears are so
well acquainted with the sound, that we never mark it."
It is mentioned as The Beginning of the World by Deloney in his
history of Jack of Newbury ; and in the Pepys Collection, vol. iv., p. 15,
is a ballad of the " Merry wooing of Robin and Joan, the West Country
Lovers, to the tune of The Beginning of the World, or Sellinger's Round,
or Great Boobe'. This is also in the Roxburghe Collection.
DANCE TUNES.
259
PACKINGTON'S POUND.1
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Nn. vi. 36 ; Barley's
New Book ofTabliture, 1596 ; Friesche Licst-Hof, 1621 ; Select Ay res, 1659 ; A Choice
Collection of 180 Loyal Songs, 1685 ; Playford's Pleasant Musical Companion, book ii.,
2nd edit, 1687 ; The Beggars' Opera, 1728, &c.
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1 This tune probably took its name from
Sir John Packington, commonly called " lusty
Packington," the same who wagered that he
would swim from the Bridge at Westminster,
i.e., Whitehall Stairs, to that at Greenwich,
for the sum of £3,000. "But the good
Queen, who had particular tenderness for
handsome fellows, would not permit Sir
John to run the hazard of the trial." His
portrait is still perserved at Westwood, the
ancient seat of the family.
3 2
260 DANCE TUNES.
The songs written to the tune are too many for enumeration. Besides
the song in Ben Jonson's comedy of Bartholomew Fair commencing
" My masters and friends, and good people, draw near," and those in the
various Collections of Ballads in the British Museum, in D'Urfey's Pills,
and in the Pill to purge State Melancholy ', 1716, — in one Collection alone,
The Choice Collection of 180 Loyal Songs, there are no fewer than thirteen.
The following are curious : —
No. i. — A popular Beggars' Song, by which the tune is often named,
commencing : —
" From hunger and cold who liveth more free ?
Or who is so richly cloathed as we." — Select Ayres, 1659.
No. 2.—" Blanket Fair, or the History of Temple Street. Being a
relation of the merry pranks plaid on the River Thames during the great
Frost:"—
" Come, listen awhile, though the weather be cold."
No. 3. — " The North Country Mayor," dated 1697, from a manuscript
volume of Songs by Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, and others, in the
Harleian Library : —
" I sing of no heretic Turk, or of Tartar,
But of a suffering Mayor who may pass for a Martyr ;
For a story so tragick was never yet told
. By Fox or by Stowe, those authors so old ;
How a vile Lansprasado
Did a Mayor bastinado,
And played him a trick worse than any Strappado :
O Mayor, Mayor, better ne'er have transub'd, [turned Papist]
Than thus to be toss'd in a blanket and drubb'd," &c.
Elderton's ballad, called " News from Northumberland," a copy of
which is in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries, was probably
written to this tune ; and the ballad which Shakespeare is said to have
written on Sir Thomas Lucy was evidently also intended for it. — (See
Dyce's Shakespeare, vol. i., p. xxii.)
Instances of the use of the tune at later dates than any I have cited
will be found among the jingles of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, such
as his election-squib upon Bubb Doddington, "A grub upon Bubb,"
beginning : —
" When the Knights of the Bath by King George were created " ;
also The Convivial Songster, 1782. It is there printed to a song
commencing : —
" Ye maidens and wives, and young widows, rejoice."
DANCE TUNES.
26l
MALL SIMS.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; B.M. Addl. MSS., 30,486; Rossiter's Consort Lessons •,
1599; Vallet's Secret des Muses \ 1615; Nederlandtsche Gedenck-Clank^ 1626;
Camphuysen's Stichtelycke Rymen^ 1647, &c.
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DANCE TUNES.
NANCY; OR, SIR EDWARD NOEL'S DELIGHT;
OR,
ALL YOU THAT LOVE GOOD FELLOWS.
With the first title in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; with the second in Dorothy
Welde's Lute Book ; BeHerophon (Amsterdam, 1622) ; Friesche Lust- H of, 1634
(altered) ; and in Pills to purge Melancholy, again altered, and set to the ballad of
The London Prentice^ which is directed in old copies to be sung to the tune of All you
that love good fellows.
THOMAS MORLEY.
[Moderate.]
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found.
DANCE TUNES.
263
The version of the tune given in the Dutch song-books as Sir Edward
NouweFs Delight is as follows : —
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where it is called The London Prentice^ consists of sixteen bars only.
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The ballad of " The Honour of a London Prentice : being an account
of his matchless manhood, and brave adventures done in Turkey, and
by what means he married the king's daughter," is evidently a production
of the reign of Elizabeth. The apprentice maintains her to be "the
phoenix of the world," "the pearl of princely majesty," &c., against "a
score of Turkish Knights," whom he overthrows at tilt.
The ballad is printed in Ritson's English Songs (among the Ancient
264 DANCE TUNES.
Ballads), and in Evans' Old Ballads ; vol. iii., 178. Copies will also be
found in the Bagford, Roxburghe (iii. 747), and other Collections. It
was "to be sung to the tune of All you that love good fellows" ; under
which name the air is most frequently mentioned. *
I have not found any song or ballad commencing " All you that love
good fellows," although so frequently quoted as a tune ; but there are
several " All you that are" and " All you that be good fellows," which,
from similarity of metre, I assume to be intended for the same air.
In a chap-book called "The arraigning and indicting of Sir John
Barleycorn, knight ; newly composed by a well-wisher to Sir John, and
all that love him," are two songs, "All you that are good fellows," and
" All you that be good fellows," " to the tune of Sir John Barleycorn, or
Jack of all trades?
A ballad " to the tune of All you that love good fellows " is to be
found in the Bagford and in the Pepys Collections (ii. 66). It is entitled
" Pride's fall : or a warning for all English women by the example of a
strange monster born late in Germany, by a merchant's proud wife of
Geneva." *
One of the ballads, to the tune of " The worthy London prentice,"
relates to a very old superstition. It is entitled the " True relation of
Susan Higges, dwelling in Risborow, a towne in Buckinghamshire, and
how she lived twenty years by robbing on the high wayes, yet unsus-
pected of all that knew her ; till at last coming to Messeldon, and there
robbing and murdering a woman, which woman knew her, and standing
by her while she gave three groanes, she spat three drops of blood in her
face, which never could be washt out, by which she was knowne, and
executed for the aforesaid murder, at the assises in Lent at Brickhill."
A copy is in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 424; also in Evans' Old
Ballads, i. 203 (1810).
The famous tune of the British Grenadiers is evidently derived from
the above.
1 There are other ballads about London 2 Bishop Earle, in his Microcosmography,
apprentices; one of "The honors achieved 1628, in giving the character of a Pot-poet, says:
in Fraunce and Spayne by four prentises of " His frequentest works go out in single sheets,
London," was entered to John Danter in and are chanted from market to market to a
1592. "Well, my dear countrymen, What- vile tune, and a worse throat ; whilst the poor
<fye-lacks " (as apprentices were frequently country wench melts, like her butter, to hear
called, from their usual mode of inviting them. And these are the stories of some men
custom), " I'll have you chronicled, and all to of Tyburn, or A strange monster out of
be praised, and sung in sonnets, and bawled Germany."
in new brave ballads, that all tongues shall
troul you in secula scctilorum." — {Beaumont
and Fletcher's " Philaster.")
DANCE TUNES.
265
WATKIN'S ALE.
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Watkiris Ale is referred to in a letter prefixed to Anthony Mundy's
translation of Gerileon in England, part ii., 1592, and in Henry Chettle's
pamphlet, Kind-hart 's Dreame, printed in the same year. A ballad
entitled "A Ditty delightful of Mother Watkin's Ale" was in the Collec-
tion of Mr. George Daniel, of Canonbury ; and another, beginning " As
Watkin walked by the way," is in the Rawlinson MSS., Poet 185 ; but
neither are suitable for publication.
266
DANCE TUNES.
PAUL'S WHARF.1
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; The Dancing Master, 1650-1, &C.
GILES BARNABY.
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1 Paul's Wharf was, and still is, one of the " Item, that no Whyry manne, with a pare of
public places for taking water, near St. Paul's ores, take for his fare from Pawles Wharfe,
Cathedral. In "The Prices of Fares and Queen hithe, Parishe Garden, or the blacke
Passages to be paide to Watermen," printed Fryers to Westminster, or White hall, or lyke
by John Cawood (n.d. ), is the following: distance to and fro, above iijd."
DANCE TUNES.
267
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WOLSEY'S WILD.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; William Ballet's Lute Book (there called " Wilson's
Wile ") ; Musics Delight on the Cithren, 1666 (there called " Wilson's Wild ").
"SS
[Fat*.]
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268
DANCE TUNES.
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JOHN, COME KISS ME NOW.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book; Robinson's New Citharen Lessons^ 1609 ; Airs and
Sonnets, MS. Trin. Coll., Dublin ; B.M. Addl. MSS., 29,996; Playford's Introduction;
Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; Apollo's Banquet for the Treble Violin; Pills
to purge Melancholy -, &c. (In all, except the four first mentioned, the tune is made
twice as long as the original by the addition of a second part.)
WILLIAM BYRD.
rTlTT^-r^
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DANCE TUNES. 269
Nothing remains of the song originally sung to this tune except the
first stanza : —
" Jon come kisse me now now, Jon come kisse me now,
Jon come kisse me by and by, and make no more adow."
This is to be found in the Dublin MS., where it is followed by thirteen
stanzas in the Scottish dialect, headed " His answer to yt, sam toone."
John, come kiss me now is one of the songs parodied in Andro
Hart's Compendium of Godly Songs, before mentioned.
From the allusions to the tune by old writers it would seem to have
been more in use as a dance than as a song. Thus, in Heywood's A
Woman kiWd ivith Kindness, 1 600 : —
Jack Slime. — I come to dance, not to quarrel : come what shall it be ? Rogero f
fenkin. — Rogero, no ; we will dance The Beginning of the World.
Sisly. — I love no dance so well 2^ John, come kiss me now.
In 'Tis merry when Gossips meet, 1609 : —
Widow.— No musique in the evening did we lacke ;
Such dauncing, coussen, you would hardly thinke it ;
Whole pottles of the daintiest burned sack,
'T would do a wench good at the heart to drink it.
Such store of tickling galliards, I do vow ;
Not an old datince, \>\tf.John, come kisse me now.
In a song in Westminster Drollery, 1671 and 1674, beginning, " My
name is honest Harry " : —
" The fidlers shall attend us,
And first play, John, come kisse me;
And when that we have danc'd a round,
They shall play, Hit or misse me."1
In Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 : " Yea, many times this love
will make old men and women, that have more toes than teeth, dance
John, come kiss me now'' It is also mentioned in The Scourge of Folly,
8vo (n.d.) ; in Brathwayte's Shepherd's Tales, 1623 ; in Tom Tiler and
his Wife, 1661 ; in Henry Bold's Songs and Poems, 1685; and in Sir W.
Davenant's Love and Honour.
1 Hit or miss is a tune in The Dancing where he speaks of one whose practice in
Master of 1650, and later editions. It is physic is " nothing more than the country
referred to by Whitlock, in his Zootamia, or dance called Hit or misse. "
Present Manners of the English, I2mo, 1654,
2/0
DANCE TUNES.
[*]
BARLEY BREAK.
Lady Neville's Virginal Book.
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Gifford has given the following description of the sport called Barley-
break, in a note upon Massinger's Virgin Martyr, act v., sc. I :
;< Barley-break was played by six people (three of each sex), who were
coupled by lot. A piece of ground was then chosen and divided into
three compartments, of which the middle one was called Hell. It was
the object of the couple condemned to this division to catch the others,
who advanced from the two extremities ; in which case a change of
situation took place, and hell was rilled by the couple who were excluded
by pre-occupation from the other places : in this ' catching ' however,
there was some difficulty, as, by the regulations of the game, the middle
couple were not to separate before they had succeeded, while the others
might break hands whenever they found themselves hard pressed.
When all had been taken in turn, the last couple was said to be in hell,
and the game ended." In this description, Gifford does not in any way
allude to it as a dance, but Littleton explains Chorus circularis, " barley-
brake, when they dance, taking their hands round." See Payne Collier's
note on Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. iii., p. 316. Strutt, in his Sports and
Pastimes, quotes only two lines from Sidney, which he takes from
Johnson's Dictionary : —
" By neighbours prais'd, she went abroad thereby,
At barley-brake her sweet swift feet to try."
In the Roxburghe Collection, vol. i., 344, is a ballad called " The Praise
of our Country Barley-brake," or —
" Cupid's advisement for young men to take
Up this loving old sport, called Barley-brake."
" To the tune of When this old cap was new" It commences thus : —
" Both young men, maids, and lads,
Of what state or degree,
Whether south, east, or west,
Or of the north country ;
I wish you all good health,
That in this summer weather
Your sweethearts and yourselves
Play at barley-break together," &c.
Allusions to Barley-break occur repeatedly in our old writers. Mr.
M. Mason quotes a description of the pastime with allegorical personages,
from Sir John Suckling : —
" Love, Reason, Hate, did once bespeak
Three mates to play at Barley-break ;
Love Folly took, and Reason Fancy ;
And Hate consorts with Pride ; so dance they" &c.
272
DANCE TUNES.
WANTON SEASON.
B.M. Addl. MSS., 30,486 ; Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. ix. 33.
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[This is a variant of J/«// 5/wj (p. 261). The setting here
printed is from the British Museum MS., which unfortunately does not
give the names of the composers ; and as the tune does not occur in
any other known virginal book, I cannot identify the author of this
excellent little piece of work. In the Cambridge MS. it is set for the
lute by Anthony Holborne. — ED.]
DANCE TUNES.
2/3
ROBIN HOOD.
Univ. Lib. Camb. Lute MSS., Dd. ix. 33.
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has been already referred to at p. 143 of the present volume : —
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and a greene Jack - et, a white hose and
a greene a
This would seem to be an earlier form ; but it must not be forgotten
that in Pammelia the tune is one of three which have been arranged to
be sung together, and that it may have been altered in the process. — ED.]
T
2/4
DANCE TUNES.
THE FROG GALLIARD.
Camb. Univ. Lib. Lute MSS., Dd. ii. n. Morley's Consort Lessons, 1597 ; Robinson's
New Citharen Lessons, 1609 ; Nederlandtsche Gedenck-Clanck, 1626 ; Sti elite ly eke
Rymen, 1647, &c.
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[This tune is so well known in the vocal form in which it appears in
Dowland's First Book of Songes, 1597, with the words beginning " Now,
O now, I needs must part," that I have thought it might be well to give
here a translation of the composition in the Cambridge Lute MSS. in
which in all probability it made its earlier appearance, and which is
moreover an excellent specimen of the simple manner of writing for the
lute ; but as the essential notes may not always disentangle themselves
easily from the merely ornamental ones, I also give the tune as it appears
in Morley's Consort Lessons, where it is quite plain : —
fcd
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ED.]
Several ballads were directed to be sung to the tune ; but though in
these directions it is always called The Frog Galliard, the measure of the
ballad is generally more suitable to the form of Now, O now. For
instance, " The Shepherd's Delight," a ballad in the Roxburghe Collec-
tion, i. 388, where the first stanza begins as follows : —
" On yonder hill there springs a flower,
Fair befall those dainty sweets ;
And by that flower there stands a bower,
Where all the heavenly muses meet," £c.
T 2
DANCE TUNES.
And another, in the Pepys Collection, vol. iv., p. 44, " The True Love's-
knot Untyed : being the right path to advise princely virgins how to
behave themselves, by the example of the renouned Princess, the Lady
Arabella, and the second son to the Lord Seymore, late Earl of Hert-
ford " ; commencing —
" As I to Ireland did pass,
I saw a ship at anchor lay,
Another ship likewise there was,
Which from fair England took her way."
QUODLING'S DELIGHT.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book ; Sir John Hawkins' transcripts ; Dancing Master,
1650, &c., there called " Goddesses."
[*]
[The Dancing Master tune, Goddesses, is practically the same as this.
The beautiful version transcribed by Sir John Hawkins, which was given
in the former edition of this work, and which has become so well known
under the name of / would I were in my own country, or The Oak and the
Ash, must probably be ascribed to the eighteenth century, since the tune
of Goddesses was continued in The Dancing Master ^as late as 1701. — ED.]
A black-letter copy of the ballad, / would I were in my own country, is
in the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 367, entitled "The Northern Lasse's
Lamentation ; or, The Unhappy Maid's Misfortune " ; and prefaced by
the following lines : —
Since she did from her friends depart, Being always fill'd with discontent ;
No earthly thing can cheer her heart ; Resolving to do nought but mourn,
But still she doth her case lament, Till to the North she doth return.
DANCE TUNES.
277
To the tune, I would I were in my own country'' Printed for P.
Brooksby at the Golden Ball, in West Smithfield ; and reprinted in
Evans' Old Ballads, i. 115 (1810).
The following were sung to the same tune : —
Pepys Collection, i. 266. " Newes from Tower Hill ; or —
" A gentle warning to Peg and Kate
To walk no more abroad so late."
To the tune of The North-country Lasse ; subscribed M[artin]
P[arker]. London, printed for E. B. Begins " A pretty jest I'll tell."
Douce Collection, p. 135. "The Lancashire Lovers ; or, The Merry
Wooing of Thomas and Betty," &c. To the tune of Love's Tide;1 or,
At home would I be in my own country" This, which is black-letter,
printed by Wright, Clarke, Thackeray, and Passinger (early Charles II.),
has also the burden —
" The oak, and the ash, and the ivy tree, f
Flourish bravely at home in my own country."
THE CHIRPING OF THE LARK.
Nederlandlsche Gedenck-Clanck, 1628; Dancing Master, 1650, &c.; Playford's
Introduction.
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1 A ballad entitled Love's Tide; or, A Farewell to Folly, was entered at Stationers' Hall to
Francis Grove on February Qth, 1648.
DANCE TUNES.
MALL. PEATLY.
Seller option, of Lust tot Wyshed, Amsterdam, 1622 ; The Dancing Master, 1665, &c.j
Apollo's Banquet, &c.
[Fast.]
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D'Urfey wrote a song to this tune entitled Gillian of Croydon (see
Pills to purge Melancholy, ii. 46), and it is to be found under that name
in some of the ballad-operas, such as The Fashionable Lady, or
Harlequin's Opera, 1730; Sylvia, or The Country Burial, 1731; The
Jealous Clown, 1730, &c. There are also several songs to it in the
Collection of State Songs sung at the Mug-houses in London and West-
minster, 1716. In Apollo's Banquet and The Dancing Master of 1665
the tune is entitled The Old Marinett, or Mall Peatly ; in Gay's Achilles,
Moll Peatly.
DANCE TUNES.
279
THE COBBLER'S JIG.
Bellerophoti, 1622; Nederlandtsche Gedenck-Clanck, 1626, &c., there called "Engels
Lapperken'' ; The Dancing Master -, 1686, £c.
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DANCE TUNES.
EARLIER SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY DANCE TUNES.
[Although the tunes which follow could not properly be included in
any earlier division of this work, since none are to be met with before
the middle of the century, the greater number of them probably had
their origin in the reign of Elizabeth, and the first three may be even
older still.— ED.]
OLD SIMON THE KING.
Music ft s Recreation on the Lyra Viol, 1652 ; Mustek's Handmaid for the Virginals^
1678, &c.
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There is a copy of what was probably the original ballad in Bishop
Percy's folio MS., p. 519. It will be found printed in the appendix to
Messrs. Hales and Furnivall's edition of the MS., London, 1867-8, 3 vols.
The ballad is mentioned, among others, by Laneham in a letter from
Kenilworth, 1575 (already more than once referred to in this work),
where he quotes it as Hey ding a ding, which is the burden of the song
in Percy's MS. It is clear from this early reference that there can be
nothing in Hawkins' conjecture (Hist. Mus., Appendix), that one Simon
Wadloe, landlord of the Devil Tavern in the days when the Apollo
Club met there, and whom Ben Jonson called " the King of Skynkers "
(drawers of ale), was the Simon of the ballad.
The tune was in great favour at, and after, the Restoration. Many
of the songs of the Cavaliers were sung to it ; many by Martin Parker,
and other ballad-writers of the reigns of James and Charles ; several by
Wilmott, Earl of Rochester ; and others of still later date.
A setting of the tune was included in "A Choice Collection of
Lessons, being excellently sett to the Harpsichord by the two great
masters, Dr. John Blow, and the late Mr. Henry Purcell," printed by
Henry Playford in 1705 ; and thirty years later we find that Fielding, in
his novel of Tom Jones, makes it Squire Western's favourite tune.
I have found the air commonly quoted under five other names,
viz., as Ragged and torn, and true ; as The Golden Age ; as /'// nfer
be drunk again ; as When this old cap was new ; and as Round
about our coal-fire. The first is from the ballad called " Ragged
and torn, and true ; or, The Poor Man's Resolution : to the tune of Old
Simon the King" (see Roxburghe Collection, i. 352 ; or Payne Collier's
Roxburghe Ballads, p. 26) ; it begins as follows : —
I am a poore man, God knowes, I scorne to live by the shift,
and all my neighbours can tell ; or by any sinister dealing ;
I want both money and clothes, He flatter no man for a gift,
and yet I live wondrous well : nor will I get money by stealing.
I have a contented mind, He be no Knight of the Post,
and a heart to beare out all ; to sell my soule for a bribe ;
Though Fortune (being unkind) Though all my fortunes be crost,
hath given me substance small. yet I scorne the Cheater's tribe.
Then hang up sorrow and care, Then hang up sorrow and care,
it never shall make me rue ; it never shall make me rue ; [bare,
What though my backe goes bare, What though my cloake be thread-
Pme ragged^ and tome, and true. Pme ragged, and torne, and true.
The second name is taken from " The Newmarket Song, to the tune
282
DANCE TUNES.
of Old Simon the King" ; beginning with the line, " The Golden Age is
come." See 180 Loyal Songs, 4th edition, 1694, p. 152.
The third from a song called " The Reformed Drinker " ; the burden
of which is, " And ne'er be drunk again." See Pills to purge Melancholy ',
ii. 47, 1707, or iv. 47, 1719 ; also Ritson's English Songs, ii. 59, 1813.
The fourth from one entitled " Time's Alteration " : —
" The old man's rehearsal what brave things he knew,
A great while agone, when this old cap was new;
to the tune of He nere be dnmke againe" Pepys Collection, i. 160 ; or
Evans' Old Ballads, iii. 262.
The fifth is the name commonly given to it in collections of country
dances printed during the last century.
Farquhar's song in the Beaux s Stratagem, beginning —
" A trifling song you shall hear,
Begun with a trifle and ended ;
All trifling people draw near,
And I shall be nobly attended,"
was written to this tune, and is printed to it in The Musical Companion.
or Lady's Magazine, 8vo, 1 77 1
PAUL'S STEEPLE, OR I AM THE DUKE OF NORFOLK,
The Dancing Master, 1650-95 ; Playford's Division Violin, 1685.
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The steeple of Old St. Paul's was set on fire by lightning and burnt
down on the 4th June, 1561 ; and within seven days a ballad of "The
true report of the burning of the steeple and church of Paul's, in
London," was entered, and afterwards printed by William Seres, " at the
west-endc of Pawles church, at the sygne of the Hedghogge." Mr.
Payne Collier has printed a ballad, written on the occasion of the fire, in
his Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company, vol. i., p. 40,
which seems to have been intended for the tune. The first verse is as
follows : —
" Lament each one the blazing fire,
That down from heaven came,
And burnt S. Powles his lofty spire
With lightning's furious flame.
Lament, I say,
Both night and day,
Sith London's sins did cause the same."
The original ballad of The Duke of Norfolk is not known, but there is a
reference to it in Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas, where, in act iii., sc. 3, the
fiddler says he can sing it.
In the Pepysian Collection, vol. i., 146, and Roxburghe Collection,
vol. i., 1 80, is a black-letter ballad, called " A Lanthorne for Landlords,"
to the tune of The Duke of Norfolk, the initial lines of which are —
" With sobbing grief my heart will break
Asunder in my breast," &c.
In The Loyal Garland, 1686, and in the Roxburghe Collection, vol. ii.,
1 88 (or Collier's Roxburghe Ballads, p. 312), God speed the plough, and
284 DANCE TUNES.
bless the corn-mow, &c., to the tune of I am the Duke of Norfolk,
beginning —
" My noble friends, give ear,
If mirth you love to hear," &c.
In the Collection of Poems on Affairs of State, vol. in., 70, is " A new
ballad to an old tune, called I am the Duke cf Norfolk'' It is a satire
on Charles II., and begins thus :—
l< I am a senseless thing, with a hey, with a hey ;
Men call me king, with a ho ;
To my luxury and ease,
They brought me o'er the seas,
With a hey nonny, nonny, nonny no.''
In Shadwell's Epsom Wells, 1673, act iii., sc. I, we find, " Could I not
play / am the Duke of Norfolk, Green Sleeves, and the fourth Psalm,
upon the virginals?'3 and in Wycherley's Gentleman Dancing Master,
Ger. says, " Sing him Arthur of Bradley, or / am the Duke of Norfolk''
A curious custom still remains, or did within recent memory, in parts
of Suffolk, at the harvest suppers, to sing a song, beginning —
" I am the Duke of Norfolk,
Newly come to Suffolk," &c.—
one of the company being crowned with a pillow or cushion, and
another presenting to him a jug of ale, kneeling. [See Suffolk
Garland, 1818, p. 402.] The editor of the Suffolk Garland says that
" this custom has most probably some allusion to the homage formerly
paid to the Lords of Norfolk, the possessors of immense domains in the
county." To " serve the Duke of Norfolk " seems to have been equiva-
lent to making merry, as in the following speech of Mine host, at the
end of the play of The Merry Devil of Edmonton, 1617 : —
" Why, Sir John, send for Spendle's noise x presently ;
Ha ! ere't be night, /'// serve the good Duke of Norfolk'.'
To which Sir John rejoins : —
" Grass and hay ! mine host, let's live till we die.
And be merry ; and there's an end."
— Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. v., 271.
Dr. Letherland, in a note which Steevens has printed on King
Henry IV., Part I., act ii., sc. 4 (where Falstaff says, " This chair shall
be my state, this dagger my sceptre, and this cushion my crown "),
observes that the country people in Warwickshire also use a cushion for
a crown at their harvest-home diversions.
1 Spendle's band, or company of musicians.
DANCE TUNES. 285
The Suffolk drinking custom (in which he who is crowned with
the pillow is to take the ale, to raise it to his lips, and to drink it off
without spilling it, or allowing the cushion to fall) was not the only one
connected with this tune. In the first volume of Wit and Mirth ; or,
Pills to purge Melancholy, 1698 and 1707, and the third volume, 1719, is
a song called Bacchus' HealtJi, " to be sung by all the company together,
with directions to be observed." They are as follows : " First man
stands up, with a glass in his hand, and sings—
" Here's a health to jolly Bacchus, (sung three times)
I -ho, I -ho, I -ho ;
For he doth make us merry, (three times)
I-ho, I-ho, I-ho.
*Come sit ye down together, (three times)
(At this star all bow to each other, and sit down.)
I-ho, I-ho, I-ho ;
And bring t more liquor hither, (three times)
(At this dagger all the company beckon to the drawer.)
I-ho, I-ho, I-ho.
It goes into * the cranium, (three times)
(At this star the first man drinks his glass, while the others sing and point at him.)
I-ho, I-ho, I-ho ;
And t thou'rt a boon companion, (three times}
(At this dagger all sit down, each clapping the next man on the shoulder. )
I-ho, I-ho, I-ho."
Every line of the above is to be sung three times, except " I-ho, I-ho,
I-ho." Then the second man takes his glass, and sings ; and so round.
About 1728, after the success of The Beggars' Opera, a great number
of other ballad operas were printed. In The Cobblers' Opera and some
others this tune is called / am the Duke of Norfolk ; but in The Jovial
Crew, The Livery Rake, and The Lover his own Rival, it is called There
was a bonny blade. It derived this name from a song which may be
found in Pills to purge Melancholy, from 1698 to 1719, and in the Rox-
burghe Collection, ii., p. 112, which begins —
" There was a bonny blade
Had married a country maid,
And safely conducted her home, home, home ;
She was neat in every part.
And she pleased him to the heart,
But ah ! and alas ! she was dumb, dumb, dumb."
From the last line of the verses of this song, the tune also became
known as " Alack ! and alas ! she was dumb," or " Dumb, dumb,
dumb."
286
DANCE TUNES.
THE FRIAR AND THE NUN.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; Pills to
Purge Melancholy j the Ballad Operas.
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In Henry Chettle's Kind-hart's Dreame, 1592, two lines are quoted
from the ballad of " The Friar and the Nun " ; and there is an allusion
to it in Archbishop Udal's translation of the Apophthegmes of Erasmus,
1 542 : " Even as is now used to syng songes of the Frere and tJie Nunne,
with other semblable merie jestes at weddynges and other feastynges."
Henry Carey wrote a song to the tune in his Honest Yorkshireman,
DANCE TUNES.
28;
1735, and there are three, or more, in Pills to purge Melancholy. In
vol. ii. of some editions, and vol. iv. of others, the title and tune of " The
Friar and the Nun " are printed by mistake with the song of " Fly,
merry news," which has no reference to them. The ballad of " The
London Prentice " was occasionally sung to it, and in some of the ballad
operas the tune bears that name. In The Plot, 1735, it is called "The
Merry Songster."
Henry Carey's song is called "The Old One Outwitted," and begins —
" There was a certain usurer,
He had a pretty niece," &c.
In The Beggars Opera, the name of " All in a misty morning " is
given to the tune, from the first line of a song called " The Wiltshire
Wedding," which will be found in Pills to purge Melancholy, iv. 148,
or ii. 148.
JOAN SANDERSON, OR THE CUSHION DANCE.
The Dancing Master, 1686, &c. ; Grove's Dictionary of Music, vol. i, p. 424.
4 — 9-
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[Slow.]
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288 DANCE TUNES.
In The Dancing Master the figure is thus described : —
" This dance is begun by a single person (either man or woman), who, taking a
cushion in hand, dances about the room, and at the end of the tune stops and sings,
' This dance it will no further go.' The musician answers, ' I pray you, good Sir, why
say you so ? ' — Man. l Because Joan Sanderson will not come too.' — Musician. ' She
must come too, and she shall come too, and she must come whether she will or no.'
Then he lays down the cushion before the woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses
her, singing, ' Welcome, Joan Sanderson, welcome, welcome.' Then she rises, takes
up the cushion, and both dance, singing, ' Prinkunvprankum is a fine dance, and shall
we go dance it once again, once again, and once again, and shall we go dance it once
again ? ' Then, making a stop, the woman sings as before, ' This dance it will no
further go.' — Musician. ' I pray you, madam, why say you so ? ' Woman. ' Because
John Sanderson will not come too.' Musician. ' He must come too, and he shall
come too, and he must come whether he will or no.' And so she lays down the cushion
before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing, ' Welcome, John San-
derson, welcome, welcome.' Then he taking up the cushion, they take hands, and
dance round, singing as before. And thus they do till the whole company are taken
into the ring ; and if there is -company enough, make a little ring in its middle, and
within Chat ring set a chair, and lay the cushion in it, and the first man set in it. Then
the cushion is laid before the first man, the woman singing, ' This dance it will no
further go ' ; and as before, only instead of ' Come too,' they sing ' Go fro ' ; and instead
of ' Welcome, John Sanderson,' they sing 'Farewell, John Sanderson, farewell, fare-
well ' ; and so they go out, one by one, as they came in. NOTE. — The women are
kissed by all the men in the ring at their coming and going out, and likewise the men
by all the women ."
The dance was already the subject of allusions in the literature of
Queen Elizabeth's time. In Lilly's Euphues, 1580, Lucilla says : " Trulie,
Euphues, you have mist the cushion, for I was neither angrie with your
long absence, neither am I well pleased at your presence." It is one
of the dances which the country people call for in Heywood's A
Woman kill' d with Kindness!' In the Apophthegms of King James, the
Earl of Worcester, &c., 1658, a wedding entertainment is spoken of:
and, " when the mask was ended, and time had brought in the supper,
the cushion led the dance out of the parlour into the hall." Seldcn,
speaking of Trenchmore and the Cushion Dance, says : " Then all the
company dances, lord and groom, lady and kitchen-maid, no distinction."
(See ante, p. 227.)
A political parody is to be found in Poems on Affairs of State from
1640 to 1704, called "The Cushion Dance at Whitehall, by way of
Masquerade. To the tune of Joan Sanderson!'
Enter Godfrey Aldiuorth, followed by the King and Duke.
King. The trick of trimming is a fine trick,
And shall we go try it once again ?
Duke. The plot it will no further go.
King. I pray thee, wise brother, why say you so ? &c.
DANCE TUNES.
289
THE SHEPHERD'S DAUGHTER.
The Dancing Master, 1652, &c. ; in the Ballad Operas, with the name ot "Parson
and Dorothy."
[*]
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The original ballad is not known, but Percy says it " was popular in
the time of Queen Elizabeth, being usually printed with her picture
before it, as Hearne informs us in his preface to Gul. Neubrig. Hist.
Oxon., vol. i., 70."
Four lines are quoted in Fletcher's comedy, The Pilgrim, act iv., sc. 2 :
' He called down his merry men all," &c. ; and in The Knight of the
Burning Pestle : " He set her on a milk-white steed," &c.
In the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 30, and in the Douce Collection, is
a ballad entitled " The beautiful Shepherdess of Arcadia, a new Pastoral
Song of a courteous young Knight and a supposed Shepherd's Daughter
of Arcadia in Peloponnesus. To the tune of The Shepherd's Daughter"
This has a burden which is not provided for in the tune.
U
290
DANCE TUNES.
[*]
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PEPPER'S BLACK.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
S
[Moderate.]
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This is mentioned as a dance tune by Nashe in a passage (quoted at
p. 238) from Have with you to Saffron- Walden, 1596.
A ballad, by Elderton, directed to be sung to the tune, was entered
at Stationers' Hall in 1 569 ; it is called Prepare ye to the Plough^ and
headed —
" The Queen holds the plough to continue good seed,
Trusty subjects, be ready to help if she need."
A copy of the ballad was in the collection of Mr. George Daniel, of
Canonbury.
THE MERRY MERRY MILKMAIDS
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
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DANCE TUNES.
291
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Maudlin, the milkmaid, in Walton's Angler, sings portions of two
ballads (by Martin Parker, a well-known ballad-writer of the latter part
of the reign of James L, and during that of Charles and the Protectorate),
and both might be sung to this tune. The first is —
" The Milkmaid's Life ; or —
" A pretty new ditty, composed and pen'd
The praise of the milking paile to defend ;
U 2
2Q2
DANCE TUNES.
to a curious new tune, called The Milkmaid's Dumps? — (Roxburghe
Collection, i. 244, or Collier's Roxburghe Ballads, 243.)
The two first stanzas are as follows : —
" You Rural goddesses,
that woods and fields possesse
Assist me with your skill,
That may direct my quill,
more jocundly to expresse
The mirth and delight,
Both morning and night,
on mountaine or in dale ;
Of them who chuse this trade to use,
And through cold dewes, doe never refuse
to carry the milking payle.
£ The bravest Lasses gay
live not so merry as they ;
In honest civill sort
They make each other sport,
as they trudge on their way.
Come faire or foule weather,
They're fearful of neither,
their courages never quail ;
In wet and dry, though winds be hye,
And darke 's the sky, they nere deny
to carry the milking payle."
[The tune would appear, from its character, to be older than Martin
Parker's date, and if so, could not be the " curious new tune, called The
Milkmaids Dumps" Moreover, it does not exactly fit the words. It
makes a repetition of the last line necessary, and an extension of the
syllables falling upon bars 6 and 1 8 over three-fourths of the bar, while
the melody proceeds on its way ; both very unusual in ballad tunes. It
is probably a country dance tune of about 1600, or rather earlier.1 — ED.]
The second ballad quoted by Maudlin is entitled "Keep a good
tongue in your head ; or —
' Here's a good woman, in every respect,
But only her tongue breeds all her defect'
to the tune of The Milkmaids" &c. — (Roxburghe Collection, i. 510, or
Collier's Roxburghe Ballads •, 237.) The tune is sometimes called by its
name, as in " Hold your hands, honest men : to the tune of Keepe a good
tongue? &c. — (Roxburghe, i. 514.) A song by D'Urfey, entitled "The
Bonny Milkmaid," was also written to the tune, but had afterwards music
composed to it for his play of Don Quixote, and is so printed in both
editions of Pills to purge Melancholy, and in The Merry Musician ; or, A
Cure for the Spleen, ii. 1 16. It is a rifacimento of Martin Parker's song
printed above.
1 There is another version of the ballad in
the Roxburghe Collection (ii. 230), entitled
"The innocent Country Maid's Delight; or,
A Description of the Lives of the Lasses of
London : set to an excellent Country Dance"
It commences with the lines quoted by the
milkmaid, from a stanza not printed above : —
" Some lasses are nice and strange
That keep shop in the Exchange."
DANCE TUNES.
293
[*]
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MILLFIELD.
The Dancing Master, 1650-1658.
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In the library of the Society of Antiquaries, and printed in Harl.
Misc., ed. Park, vol. x., p. 266, is " A new Ballad, declaring the great
Treason conspired against the young King of Scots, and how one
Andrew Browne, an Englishman, which was the King's Chamberlaine,
prevented the same. To the tune of Milfield or els to Greenesleaves"
This was licensed in 1581.
FAIN I WOULD.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book, there called "The
King's Complaint."
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294
DANCE TUNES.
One of the ballads among the King's Pamphlets, which bears the
date of the 23rd April, 1649, is " A Coffin for King Charles : A Crown
for Cromwell : A Pit for the People " ; and the direction is that " you
may sing this to the tune of Fain I would" (Vol. viii., folio, and reprinted
in Wright's Political Ballads, 8vo, p. 117). It consists of fifteen stanzas,
of which three are subjoined : —
CROMWELL ON THE THRONE.
So so, the deed is done,
The Royal head is severed ;
As I meant when I first begun,
And strongly have endeavoured.
Now Charles the First is tumbled down,
The Second I don't fear ;
I grasp the sceptre, wear the crown,
Nor for Jehovah care.
KING CHARLES IN HIS COFFIN.
Think'st thou, base slave, though in my
grave,
Like other men I lie ?
My sparkling fame and royal name
Can, as thou wishest, die ?
Know, caitiff, in my son I live
(The Black Prince call'd by some),
And he shall ample vengeance give
On those that did me doom.
THE PEOPLE IN THE PIT.
Suppress'd, depress'd, involv'd in woes,
Great Charles, thy people be,
Basely deceiv'd with specious shows
By those that murther'd thee.
We are enslaved to tyrants' hests,
Who have our freedom won :
Our fainting hope now only rests
On thy succeeding son, &c.
In Rawlinson, p. 36, will be found — " The Matchless Shepheard,
overmatcht by his Mistress ; or, The Solid Shepheard's Satyrical Song
against his Schismatical Mistress : to the tune of Fain would /, if /
could, or O brave House" &c. ; begins — "Fain I would if I might."
DANCE TUNES.
295
[This tune, like the preceding one, is much older than the books in
which we find it. This is sufficiently proved by the very wide difference
between the version given above, which is that of The Dancing Master,
and that contained in Elizabeth Rogers' MS., of about the same date,
where it stands thus . —
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r BZ2 «
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In all probability it was originally a dance tune, to which was adapted
the ballad, now lost, of "Fain I would." After 1670, another song or
ballad, also lost, called " Parthenia," seems to have been sung to it, since
that name is given, as well as the older one, in the later editions of The
Dancing Master. " Parthenia " had originally a tune of its own, which
is to be found in Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666, and is as follows: —
PARTHENIA.
J_cJ_.=id «L_^__ J.d_c
-r— -r
ED.]
296
DANCE TUNES.
THE MAID PEEPED OUT AT THE WINDOW
OR
THE FRIAR IN THE WELL.
The Dancing M r aster \ 1650, &c.
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A ballad with the second title is in Bagford's Collection, and in the
Roxburghe, ii. 172, Pepys, iii. 145, and Douce, 87 ; also in Wit and Mirth,
&c., 1682 ; Pills to purge Melancholy, editions of 1707 and 1719, and in
many other publications ; but it cannot be the original, as it does not
contain the line which gives the tune its first title. The story on which
it is founded is a very common one, and is contained in some form or
other in most old French and Italian collections of facetious tales. It
was referred to by Skelton in Colyn Cloute : —
" But when the freare fell in the well,
He could not syng himselfe therout,
But by the helpe of Christyan Clout."
— Dyce, vol. i., 345-
DANCE TUNES.
297
In Anthony Munday's Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon
(written in 1597), where Little John expresses his doubts of the success
of the play ; saying —
" Methinks I see no jests of Robin Hood ;
No merry Morrices of Friar Tuck ;
No pleasant skippings up and down the wood ;
No hunting songs," &c.
The Friar answers that " merry jests " have been shown before, such as —
" How the Friar fell into the well,
For love of Jenny, that fair, bonny belle," &c.
[The versions of this and the two following tunes, given in the
former edition of this work, were all in the key of G major. The tunes,
however, appeared in 1650 exactly as I have printed them, and con-
tinued unchanged in the subsequent editions of The Dancing Master
to the end of the century. The third may even be found, practically
unaltered, in the appendix to Hawkins' History of Music, published in
i>77. All three tunes probably belong to the sixteenth century.— ED.]
THE LONDON GENTLEWOMAN, OR THE HEMP-DRESSER.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
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The song from which this tune takes its name is to be found in a
collection of translated ballads, &c., called " Latine Songs, with their
English," by Henry Bold, 1685. It begins : —
" There was a London gentlewoman,
that loved a country man-a :
And she did desire his company,
a little now and then-a.
This man he was a hemp-dresser," &c.
298
DANCE TUNES.
One of D'Urfey's songs, commencing " The sun had loos'd his weary
team," was written to this air. It is printed, with music, in his third
Collection of New Songs, folio, 1685 ; in Play ford's third book of
Choice Ayres and Songs ; and in vol. i. of all the editions of Pills to purge
Melancholy. In the first it is entitled "A new song set to a pretty
country dance, called TJie Hemp-dresser " ; in the second it has the
further prefix of " The Winchester Christening : The Sequel of the Win-
chester Wedding. A new song," &c.
In The Beggars Opera, 1726; The Court Legacy, 1733 ; The Sturdy
Beggars, 1733 ; and The Rival Milliners, 1737, the tune is named "The
sun had loos'd his weary team," from D'Urfey's song. In other ballad-
operas, such as Penelope, 1728 ; and Love and Revenge, or The Vintner
outwitted, n.d., it takes the name of one beginning " Jone stoop'd down."
Burns also wrote a song to it — " The Deil's awa' wi' the Exciseman " ;
and G. A. Stevens another, entitled " Nunc est bibendum," beginning —
" Now we're free from College Rules,
From commonplace book reason."
— See Dale's English Songs, book xxiii.
In the History of Robert Powel, the Puppet- Showman, 8vo, 1715,
The Hemp-dresser is mentioned among the favourite tunes called for by
the company.
STINGO, OR THE OIL OF BARLEY, OR COLD AND RAW,
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
P r P f ; ' r- P r P " F
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DANCE TUNES.
299
A A A.
.
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The song, " A Cup of Old Stingo " is contained in Merry Drollery
Complete, 1661 and 1670, and, if it be the original song, must be of a date
from thirty to forty (and perhaps more) years earlier than the book.
The first stanza is as follows : —
" There's a lusty liquor which
good fellows use to take-a ;
It is distilled with Nard most rich,
And water of the lake-a.
" Of hop a little quantity,
And Barm to it they bring too ;
Being barrell'd up, they call't a cup
of dainty good old stingo."
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 214, there is a black-letter ballad
" to the tune of Stingo" which was evidently written in the reign of
Charles I., as it contains allusions to " the King's great porter," " Bankes'
Horse," &c. It is entitled " The Little Barley-corn :—
" Come, and doe not musing stand,
if thou the truth discerne :
But take a full cup in thy hand,
and thus begin to learne.
Not of the earth, nor of the ayre,
at evening or at morne ;
But, joviall boyes, your Christmas keep
with the little Barly-Corne.
" It is the cunningst Alchimist,
that ere was in the land :
Twill change your mettle when it list,
in turning of a hand.
Your blushing gold to silver wan,
Your silver into brasse :
Twill turne a Taylor to a man,
and a man into an asse," &c.
In the editions of The Dancing Master which were printed after 1690,
the name is changed from Stingo, or The Oyle of Barley, to Cold and Raw.
This new title was derived from a (so-called) " New Scotch Song,"
written by D'Urfey, which first appeared in the second book of Comes
Amoris, or The Companion of Love, printed by John Carr in 1688 ; the air
was a little altered for the words.
In Anthony a Wood's collection of broadsides (Ashmolean Library,
Oxford) there are two ballads with music, bearing the date of December,
1688, and printed to this tune. The first is " The Irish Lasse's Letter ;
or her earnest request to Teague, her dear joy : to an excellent new tune"
The second is the famous song of Lilliburlero.
In the Douce Collection is a ballad called " The lusty Friar of
Flanders : to the tune of Cold and Raw"
300
DANCE TUNES.
Horace Walpole mentions it under the same name in a letter to
Richard West, Esq., dated from Florence (Feb. 27, 1740), where, in
speaking of the Carnival, he says, " The Italians are fond to a degree of
our Country Dances.1 Cold and Raiv they only know by the tune ;
Blowzybella is almost Italian, and Butter'd Peas is Pizelli al buro"
Another name for the tune was The Mother beguiles the DaugJiter, and
many ballads will be found directed to be sung to it under this name in
the Roxburghe Collection. Among these one, " The Countrey Lasse,"
is noticeable from the fact that the old tune ceased to be sung to it
about 1720, and gave place to another, which is as follows :—
£
PI^I
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£
This is the tune to which, with slight alteration, Sally in our Alley is
now sung. The tune which Henry Carey, the author of that song, com-
posed for it will be given in its proper place in the second volume of the
present work. Carey's tune is the Sally in our Alley of the ballad-operas
printed between 1728 and 1760; but from the latter period its popularity
seems to have waned, and, at length, it was entirely superseded by the
ballad-tune given above, which is to be found in The Merry Musician ;
or, A Cure for the Spleen^ iii. p.2 In The Devil to pay , Svo, 1731, Carey's
tune is printed at p. 35, as Charming Sally, and the one given above
as What tho I am a Country Lass, at p. 50.
The first stanza of the ballad, printed about 1620, is here given : —
" Although I am a Countrey Lasse,
a loftie mind I beare-a ;
I thinke myselfe as good as those
That gay apparell weare-a.
; My coate is made of homely Gray,
yet is my skin as softe-a,
As those that with the chiefest Wines
do bathe their bodies oft-a.
1 This agrees with what I have been told
about the book entitled The Dancing Master
(the early editions of which are extremely
scarce in England), viz., that it is very well
known to the dealers in Italy, and that it may be
procured there with comparatively little trouble.
2 The first volume of The Merry Musician
is dated 1716; but the second, third, and
fourth, being engraved, not set up in type like
the first, bear no dates.
DANCE TUNES.
301
[*]
GATHERING PEASCODS.
The Dancing Master, 1650.
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No trace of the words to this tune can be discovered, although its
title would appear to suggest a song. It will be observed that the first
four bars are identical with the opening of All in a garden green.
302
DANCE TUNES.
HALF HANNIKIN.
The Dancing Master^ 1650, &c.
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By an extract from Sir H. Herbert's office-book of revels and plays
performed at Whitehall at Christinas, 1622-3, quoted by Mr. Collier, in
his Annals of the Stage, we find that on Sunday, iQth January, 1623,
after the performance of Ben Jonson's masque, Time Vindicated, " The
Prince did lead the measures with the French Ambassador's wife," and
" the measures, braules, corrantos, and galliards, being ended, the
masquers, with the ladies, did daunce two countrey dances, namely,
The Soldiers Marche and Huff Hamukm"
DANCE TUNES.
303
WHO LIST TO LEAD A SOLDIER'S LIFE.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
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In 77^ Golden Garland of Princely Delights, edition of 1620, are two
ballads to be sung to this tune : —
" A Song of an English Knight, that married the Royal Princess,
Lady Mary, sister to Henry VIII., which Knight was afterwards made
Duke of Suffolk ; " beginning —
u Eighth Henry ruling in this land,
He had a sister fair."
"A Song of the Life and Death of King Richard III., who, after
many murders by him committed, &c., was slain at the Battle of Bosworth
by Henry VII., King of England ;}> beginning —
"In England once there reigned a king,
A tyrant fierce and fell."
In the Pepys Collection, vol. i., p. 100, is a black-letter ballad of
" The joyful peace concluded between the King of Denmark and the
King of Sweden, by the means of our most worthy sovereign James/'
&c., to the tune of Who list to lead a soldiers life ; dated 1613.
A song, " Who list to have a lubberly load," which occurs in The
Miseries of Inforced Marriage (Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. v.), was perhaps
a parody on " Who list to lead a soldier's life," the words of which I
have not been able to find.
304
DANCE TUNES.
There were perhaps two tunes of this name, because some of the
ballads could not conveniently be sung to this air. In Peele's Edward /.,
1593, we find : " Enter a harper and sing, to the tune of Who list to lead
a soldier s life, the following : —
" Go to, go to, you Britons all,
And play the men both great and small," &c.
and in Deloney's Strange Histories, 1607 —
" When Isabell, fair England's queen,
In woeful wars had victorious been," &c.
These would give three syllables for the long note at the end of the
section, a rather unusual arrangement.
UNDER AND OVER.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Mr. Windsor's MS. of Virginal Music, there called
" A Man had Three Sons."
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DANCE TUNES.
305
The ballad of Under and over is in the Pepys Collection, i. 264,
B.L., as " A new little Northern Song, called —
" Under and over, over and under,
Or a pretty new jest and yet no wonder ;
Or a maiden mistaken, as many now be,
View well this glass, and you may plainly see.
" to a pretty new Northern tune."
In the same volume are the following : " Rocke the babie, Joane : to
the tune of Under and over" p. 396 ; beginning —
' A young man in our parish,
His wife was somewhat currish," &c.
And at p. 404, another, commencing —
" There was a country gallant,
That wasted had his talent," &c
In the Roxburghe, iii. 176, " Rock the cradle, John —
1 Let no man at this strange story wonder,
It goes to the tune of Over and under! "
And in the same Collection, and also in Collier's Roxburghe Ballads^
p. 281, "The Times' Abuses: to the tune of Over and under; com-
mencing—
' Attend, my masters, and give ear,' " &c.
It would appear that the tune was known also by another name.
There is a ballad in the Douce Collection with the following lengthy
title : " Joan's ale is new ; or, A new merry medley, shewing the power,
the strength, the operation, and the virtue that remains in good ale,
which is accounted the mother-drink of England. To a pleasant new
Northern tune." And the pleasant new Northern tune was no doubt
the one given above, since it appears (altered to the key of D major,
and with the repetition in the second half, instead of in the first) in
Pills to purge Melancholy as Joans ale is new.
There was also an earlier ballad called " Jone's ale is newe," which
was entered at Stationers' Hall in 1 594 ; but this was probably sung to
some other tune, now lost.
306
DANCE TUNES.
CUCKOLDS ALL A ROW.
The Dancing Master ; 1650, &c.
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This tune is mentioned in the old song, " O London is a fine town."
The date of its origin is not known, but it was used as a party tune by
the Cavaliers, who sang the songs of " Hey, boys, up go we," and
"London's true character" to it. The latter, abusing the Londoners
for taking part against the King, and commencing " You coward-
hearted citizens," is contained in Rats rhimed to Death ; or, The Rump
Parliament hanged in the Shambles, 1660 ; and in both editions of Loyal
Songs written against the Rump Parliament.
There is also a ballad directed to be sung to it in the Roxburghe
Collection, i. 28, called " The Cruel Shrew; or, The Patient Man's Woe."
Reprinted in Evans' Old Ballads, i. 170.
DANCE TUNES.
THE BEGGAR BOY.
The Dancing Master, 1650.
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 542, is a ballad called " The Begger-
Boy of the North," which begins as follows : —
From ancient pedigree by due descent
I well can derive my generation ;
Throughout all Christendome, and also
Kent,
my calling is knowne both in Terme and
Vacation.
My parents old taught me to be bold,
I'le never be daunted whatever is spoken,
Wherere I come my custome I hold,
and cry, Good your worship, bestow one
token.
# -x- -x- * #
My Father, my Mother, my Gransire and
Grannum,
my Uncles, my Aunts, and all my kin-
dred,
Did maund for Loure, casum and pannum ;
then wherefore should I from the Trade
be hindred.
Cat will to kind, the Proverbe doth say,
'tis pity old customes should be broken ;
Still as I wander along on the way,
I'le cry, Good your worship, bestow one
token.
X 2
3o8
DANCE TUNES.
The following ballads were also sung to the tune : —
Roxburghe Collection, i. 528— "Trial brings Truth to light ; or—
* The proof of a pudding is all in the eating ;
A dainty new ditty of many things treating :'
" to the tune of The Begger Boy'' by Martin Parker ; and beginning —
" The world hath allurements and flattering shows,
To purchase her lovers' good estimation ;
Her tricks and devices he's wise that well knows —
The earn'd in this science are taught by probation," &c.
In the Roxburghe, i. 450, and Pepys, i. 306 — " The Witty Western
Lasse," &c., " to a new tune called The Begger Boy : " subscribed Robert
Guy. This begins, " Sweet Lucina, lend me thy ayde " ; and in the
Pepys Collection, i. 310, there is a ballad to the tune of Lucina, entitled
" A most pleasant Dialogue, or a merry greeting between two Lovers."
BOATMAN.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Mustek's Recreation on the Vio*, Lyra-way, 1661.
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TRIP AND GO.
Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666.
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Nashe, in his Introductory Epistle to the surreptitious edition of
Sidney's Astrophel and Stella, 4to, 1591, says: " Indeede, to say the
truth, my stile is somewhat heavie gated, and cannot daunce Trip and
goe so lively, with ' Oh my love, ah my love, all my love gone, as other
shepheards that have beene Fooles in the morris, time out of minde."
3io
DANCE TUNES.
Trip and go seems to have become a proverbial expression. In
Gosson's Schoole of Abuse, 1579 : " Trip and go, for I dare not tarry."
In The Two Angrie Women of Abington, 1599 : " Nay, then, trip and
go? In Ben Jonson's Case is altered : " O delicate trip and go? And
in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost : " Trip and go, my sweet."
[*]
TOM TINKER.
The Dancing Master, 1650-98.
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In a black-letter tract called The World's Folly, which was reprinted
by Sir Egerton Brydges in the British Bibliographer, there is mention of
a ballad called " Whilom I was," which was sung to the tune of Tom
Tinker.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century this tune seems to have
given place to another of the same name, which is printed in Pills to
purge Melancholy, vi. 265, to a song beginning " Tom Tinker's my true
love," and which is as follows :• —
DANCE TUNES.
m
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This was afterwards sung in 7^£ Beggars' Opera, to " Which way
shall I turn me ? "
HAVE AT THY COAT OLD WOMAN, OR STAND THY
GROUND OLD HARRY.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; MusicKs Delight on the Cithren^ 1666.
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A copy of the ballad from which it derives the above name is in the
Pepys Collection, i. 284. It is —
" ' A merry new song of a rich widow's wooing,
Who married a young man to her own undoing/
" to the tune of Stand thy ground, old Harry ; " with a refrain of " Have
at thy coat, old woman," &c.
312
DANCE TUNES.
I have not found the ballad, " Stand thy ground, old Harry " ; but
there is another to the tune under that name in the same volume, i. 282 :
" A very pleasant new ditty, to the tune of Stand thy ground, old Harry; "
commencing, " Come, hostess, fill the pot." Printed at London for H.
Gosson.
A song commencing " My name is honest Harry," to the tune of
Robin Rowser, which is in the same metre, is contained in Westminster
Drollery -, 1671 and 1674 ; in Wit and Drollery ', 1682 ; and in Dryden's
Miscellany Poems, iv. 119.
Whitlock, in his Zootomia ; or, Observations on the Present Manners
of the English, I2mo, 1654, p. 45, commences his character of a female
quack with the line, "And have at thy coat, old woman" In Vox
Borealis, 4to, 1641, we find : " But all this sport was little to the court-
ladies, who began to be very melancholy for lack of company, till at last
some young gentlemen revived an old game, called Have at thy coat, old
woman''
BOBBING JOE.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666, &c.
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This tune is sometimes entitled Bobbing Joane, as in /W/y, 1729 ;
in The Bay's Opera, 1730 ; The Mad House, 1737 ; A Cure for a
Scold, &c., 1738.
New Bob-in-Jo is mentioned as a tune in No. 38 of Mercurius Denw-
critus ; or, A True and Perfect Nocturnall, December, 1652. (See King's
Pamphlets, Brit. Mus.) Many songs and ballads were sung to it after
the Restoration.
DANCE TUNES.
313
THE HEALTH.
The Dancing Master, 1650-90 ; Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666.
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In the later editions of The Dancing Master containing this tune the
melody was expanded in the following manner :: —
In the poems of Patrick Gary, Lord Falkland's younger brother,
(which were printed in 1819 from the autograph MS. of 1651, by Sir
Walter Scott), is a song to this tune, of which the first verse is as
follows : —
" Come, faith, since I'm parting, and that God knows when
The walls of sweet Wickham I shall see again,
Let's e'en have a frolic and drink like tall men,
Till heads with healths go round."
The stanza which Sir Walter Scott puts into the mouth of Charles
II., in disguise at Woodstock, is a parody of this.
3*4
DANCE TUNES.
HYDE PARK.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
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The original ballad to this tune is probably that in the Pepys Collec-
tion, i. 197, entitled " The Defence of Hide Parke from some aspersions
cast upon her, tending to her great dishonour : To a curious neiv Court
tune" It is in ten-line stanzas, and commences, " When glistering,
Phcebus." " Printed at London for H[enry] G[osson]." There is also
at i. 1 88, "The Praise of London ; or, A delicate new Ditty, which doth
invite you to faire London City. To the tune of tke second part of Hide
Parker
In Westminster Drollery, 1671, there is another song called "Hide
Park : the tune, Honour invites you to delights — Come to the Court, and
be all made Knights" A copy of this song will be found in Addit
DANCE TUNES.
315
MSS., Brit. Mus., No. 5,832, fol. 205, entitled "Verses upon the Order
for making Knights of such persons who had £4.0 per annum, in King
James the First's time."
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 290, is a ballad, " to the tune of Hide
Park" beginning —
Alas, I am in love,
and cannot speake it ;
My mind I dare not move
nor nere can break it.
She doth so farre excel
all and each other,
My mind I cannot tell,
when we are together.
But He take heart to me,
I will reveale it ;
He try her constancy,
He not conceale it.
But alas, but alas,
I doe consider,
I cannot break my mind,
when we are together.
The more I strive to hide,
the more it flameth ;
These pains I cannot bide,
my wits it lameth.
And if it hidden be,
will burn for ever,
Unlesse I speake my mind,
when we are together.
I think 'twere good I tride,
and went to prove her ;
And lay all feare aside,
stoutly to move her.
But when I am going to
speake,
my tongue doth quiver,
And will not breake my
minde,
when we are together.
There is another tune which takes the same name, but from a ballad
printed in the reign of Charles II., called "News from Hide Park."
This has a burden of " Tantara, rara, tantivee/' and the tune is sometimes
also called by that name ; but it is directed to be sung to the tune of
The Crost Couple. This is therefore the earliest title of the tune, which
is as follows : —
The ballad of " The Crost Couple ; to a new Northern tune much in
fashion," is in the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 94. The ballad of " News
from Hide Park," which is in the same volume, will also be found in
Pills to purge Melancholy ', ii. 138. It consists of a supposed conversation
overheard between the Duchess of Portsmouth and Nell Gwyn, and
begins —
" One evening a little before it was dark,
Sing tantara, rara, tantivee," &c.
DANCE TUNES.
ROOM FOR COMPANY.
Music&s Recreation on the Lyra-Viol, 1652.
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The ballad of Room for Company is in the Pepys Collection, i. 168,
entitled " Room for Company, here comes good fellowes. To a pleasant
nezvtune." Imprinted at London for E. W. This was perhaps Edward
White, a ballad-printer of Elizabeth's reign, and of the earliest part of
that of James I.
In Pills to purge Melancholy, vi. 136, there is a song about the twelve
great Companies of the City of London, printed to this tune, and com-
mencing—
" Room for gentlemen, here comes my Lord Mayor.''
In the Roxburghe Collection, i. 538, is " The Fetching Home of
May ; To the tune of Room for Company'' Printed for J. Wright, jun.,
dwelling at the upper end of the Old Bailey (about 1663). It is also
contained in the Antidote to Melancholy, 1661 ; and in Pills to purge
Melancholy, ii. 26 (1707), or iv. 26 (1719)-
DANCE TUNES.
A later version of the tune was known as Hunting the Hare, from a
ballad printed by Thackeray in the early part of the reign of Charles II.,
which begins —
" Songs of shepherds, and rustical roundelayes," &c. —
and which may be found in Westminster Drollery, part ii. (1672) ; in Wit
and Drollery ', 1682 ; in the Collection of Old Ballads, 8vo, 1727 ; in Mis-
cellany Poems, edited by Dryden, iii. 309 (1716) ; in Ritson's, Dale's, and
other Collections of English Songs. The later tune is as follows : —
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Bellerophon (Gesangh der Zeeden}, 1648 ; The Dancing Master, 1650.
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DANCE TUNES.
UPON A SUMMER'S DAY.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; in later editions (1670-90) it is called "The
Garland" ; MusicVs Delight on the Cithren, 1666.
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The song " Upon a Summer's-day " is in Merry Drollery Complete,
1661, p. 148. Its later name, " The Garland," refers, in all probability,
to a ballad in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 22, or Pepysian, i. 300 ; which
DANCE TUNES.
319
is reprinted in Evans' Old Ballads, iv. 345 (1810), beginning, "Upon
a Summer's time" In the Pepys Collection, vol. i., is a " Discourse
between a Soldier and his Love, to the tune of Upon a Summer time"
which begins, "My dearest love, adieu." And at p. 182 of the same
volume is a ballad to the tune of Upon a Summer tide. It begins, " I
travell'd far to find."
In the Roxburghe Collection, vol. i. 526, "The good fellow's advice,"
&c., is to the tune of Upon a Summer time, and at p. 384 of the same
volume another called " Seldom cleanely."
LADY, LIE NEAR ME.
The Dancing Masler, 1650.
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The original song to this tune is not known ; but in the Pepys Col-
lection, iii. 59, and Douce, 119, there is a ballad of Laddy, lie near me,
" to the tune of Lady, lie near me, or Green Garter"
In Ritson's North Country Chorister there is another ballad called
" Laddy, lie near me " (beginning " As I walked over hills, dales, and
high mountains ") ; and in 1793 Mr. George Thomson gave Burns a tune
of that name to write words to, which is now included in Scotch Collec-
tions. It differs wholly from this.
320
DANCE TUNES.
A HEALTH TO BETTY.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c. ; Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666, &c.
J--J-
D'Urfey prints " The Female Quarrel ; or, A Lampoon upon Phillida
and Chloris, to the tune of a country dance, call'd A Health to Betty"
(Pills, ii. 1 10, 1719.)
In the Pepys Collection, i. 274, is a ballad — " Four-pence-half-penny-
farthing ; or, A woman will have the oddes ; " signed M[artin] Pfarker].
"Printed at London for C. W. To the tune of Bessy Bell [she doth excell\,
or A Health to Betty"
[*]
LULL ME BEYOND THEE.
The Dancing Master, 1650-90
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This would appear to have been known at first only as " a new
Northern tune," and afterwards to have taken its name from a ballad,
which is to be found in the Pepys Collection, i. 372, entitled " The
Northern Turtle, wailing his unhappy fate in being deprived of his sweet
mate : to a new Northern tune. The same ballad is in the Roxburghe
Collection, i. 319, as the second part to one entitled "The Paire of
Northerne Turtles :
u Whose love was firm till cruel death
Depriv'd them both of life and breath."
That is also to " a new Northern tune," and printed " for F. Coules,
dwelling in the Old Baily.'' Coules printed about 1620 to 1628.
The following ballads are also to the tune : —
Pepys, i. 390 :-
" A constant wife, a kind wife,
Which gives content unto a man's life."
to the tune of Lie lulling beyond thee. Printed for F. C[oules]. It
begins —
" Young men and maids, do lend me your aids."
Pepys, i., and Roxburghe, i. 1 56 — " The Honest Wooer,
" His mind expressing, in plain and few terms,
By which to his mistris his love he confirms : "
to the tune of Lulling beyond her, begins —
" Fairest mistris, cease your moane, I will not compliment with oaths,
Spoil not your eyes with weeping, Nor speak you fair to prove you ;
For certainly if one be gone, But save your eyes, and mend your clothes,
You may have another sweeting. For it is I that love you."
Roxburghe, i. 416— " The Two Fervent Lovers," &e., "to the tune of
The Two Loving Sisters, or Lulling beyond thee'' Signed L. P.
Pepys, i. 427-
" A pleasant new ballad to sing both even and morn,
Of the bloody murther of Sir John Barley-Corne.
322
DANCE TUNES.
To the tune of Shall 1 lie beyond theeT Printed at London for Hfenry]
G[osson]. It commences thus : —
" As I went through the North country,
I heard a merry greeting," &c.
This excellent ballad has been reprinted by Evans (Old Ballads,
iv. 214, ed. 1810), from a copy in the Roxburghe Collection, i. 43,
" printed for John Wright/
NONESUCH, OR A LA MODE DE FRANCE.
The Dancing Master, 1650, &c.
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Under its second name this tune is to be found also in Mustek's Re-
creation on the Lyra- Viol, Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, &c., and
sometimes in a major key. This name is probably derived from a song,
quoted by Marchamont Needham, in A Short History of the English
Rebellion, 1661, of which it was the burden ; thus —
"Never such rebels have been seen,
As since we led this dance ;
So may we feast let prince and queen
Beg d la mode de France.
Then let us what our labours gain
Enjoy and bless our chance ;
Like kings let's domineer and reign
Thus a la mode de France"
In the Second Tale of a Tub, 1715, it is one of the tunes called for by
the company ; and there is a song to it, called i( The French Report,"
in the "Rump" Songs, 1662, and in the Collection of Loyal Songs,
i- 25.
DANCE TUNES.
323
THE GLORY OF THE NORTH.
Mustek's Recreation on the Lyra-Viol, 1652 ; Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ;
Elizabeth Rogers' Virginal Book ; Hawkins' Transcripts, &c.
E*
THE GLORY OF THE WEST.
The Dancing Master, 1650-86 ; Mustek's Delight on the Cithren, 1666 ; Mustek's
Handmaid, 1678.
M.
P
fe^-f
-I — F
i
Y 2
324
DANCE TUNES.
Other names for this tune were Shall 7, mother, shall I ? (written
under the notes in a copy of The Dancing Master formerly belonging
to the author of this work), and The Prince of Orange's Delight (Thomp-
son's Loyal Songs •, 1694). The "Glory of the West ' seems to have
been a not uncommon title for loyal ballads of that part of the country,
but they were written without reference to this tune.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
INDEX OF TUNES.
INDEX OF TUNES.
PAGE
Agincourt, Song of ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Aim not too high ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 78
A Health to Betty 320
Ah the sighs 35
Alack and alas, she was dumb ... ... ... ... ... 285
A la mode de France ... ... ... ... ... ... 322
All a green willow ... ... ... ... ... ... ... no
All Flowers of the broom ... ... ... ... ... ... 236
All in a Garden green ... . ... ... ... ... 79
All in a misty morning ... .. ... ... .. ... 287
All you that love good fellows ... ... ... ... ... 262
Basse's Career 198
Bara Fostus Dream ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 148
Barley-Break ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 270
Beggar Boy, The 307
Beginning of the World. The ... ... ... ... ... 256
Blow thy horn, hunter ... ... ... ... ... ... 39
Boatman ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 308
Bobbing Joe .'. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 312
Bonny sweet Robin ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 153
Bring us in good ale... ... ... ... ... ... ... 31
Browning .,. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 154
By a bank as I lay ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 46
Calino Casturame ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 84
Canst thou not hit it? 249
Carman's Whistle, The ... ,.. ... ... ... ... 253
Chevy Chase ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 90
Chirping of the Lark, The ... ,., ... ... ... ... 277
328 INDEX OF TUNES.
PAGE
Cobbler's Jig, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 279
Cold and raw ... ... ... ... ... .... ... ... 298
Come, follow, follow me ... ... ... ... 186
Come live with me and be my love ... ... ... ... 123
Come o'er the bourne, Bessy ... ... ... ... ... 121
Come, shepherds, deck your heads... ... ... ... ... 168
Confess, or The Court Lady ... ... ... 165
Country Lass, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 300
Cramp, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 143
Crimson Velvet... .. ... ... ... ... 166
Crook, The 220
Crost Couple, The ... 315
Cuckolds all a row ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 306
Cull to me the rushes green ... ... ... ... ... 38
Cushion Dance, The ... ... ... ... ... 287
Dance tune, 1260 ... ... ... ... 215
Daphne ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 150
Daphne and Corydon... ... ... ... ... ... ... 157
Dargison ... ... ... ... , ... ... 230
Deo gratias ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Drive the cold winter away... ... ... ... 173
Dulcina ... ... ... ... ... 160
Eighty-eight ... ... ... 159
Essex's Last Good-night ... ... ... ... ... ... 132
Fain I would 293
Fain would I have a pretty thing... ... 235
Faithful Brothers, The 116
Flying Fame ... ... ... ... 91
Fortune ... ... 76
Forty-one ... ... ... ... ... ... 206
French Levalto, The 233
Friar and the Nun, The 286
Friar in the well, The 296
Frog Galliard, The 274
INDEX OF TUNES. 329
PAGE
Gather ye Rosebuds ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 196
Gathering Peascods ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 301
Gipsies' Round, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 255
Glory of the North, The 323
Glory of the West, The 323
Goddesses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 276
Go from my window... ... ... ... ... ... ... 146
Gray's Inn Masque ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 179
Green Sleeves ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 239
Half Hannikin ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 302
Hanskin... ... ... .,. ... ... ... ... ... 159
Have at thy coat, old woman ... ... ... ... ... 311
Health, The , 313
Heart's-ease 97
Hemp-dresser, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 297
Hey, then up go we ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 204
Hornpipe, A ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 218
How can the tree ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 72
Hyde Park 314
I am the Duke of Norfolk ... ... ... ... ... ... 282
I cannot eat but little meat ... ... ... ... ... 94
I have been a Foster 50
I have house and land in Kent ... ... ... ... ... 138
I have waked the winter's nights ... .-- .... ... ... 174
I live not where I love ... ... ... ... ... ... 200
I'll never love thee more ... ... ... ... ... ... 190
I loathe that I did love ... ... 52
In sad and ashy weeds ... ... ... ... ... ... 156
Irish Dumpe, The 85
Irish Ho-hoane, The 85
It was a lover and his lass... ... ... ... ... ... 114
I would I were in my own country ... ... ... ... 276
Joan Sanderson ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 287
John, come kiss me now ... ... ... ... ... ... 268
330 INDEX OF TUNES.
PAGE
John Dory 93
Jog on ... ... 159
Keep a good tongue in your head ... ... ... ... 292
King's Ballad, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 44
King's Complaint, The 293
Lady, lie near me ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 319
Lady's Fall The 89
La Volta 232
Light o' Love ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 82
London Gentlewoman, The ... ... ... ... ... ... 297
Lord Willoughby ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 152
Loth to depart... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 102
Love will find out the way ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 89
Lull me beyond thee... ... ... ... ... ... ... 320
Lusty Gallant ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 234
Mad Tom ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 179
Maiden Fair ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 201
Mall Peatly 278
Mall Sims ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 261
Malt's come down ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 151
Martin said to his man ... ... ... ... ... ... 140
Merry Merry Milkmaids, The ... ... ... ... ... 290
Millfield ... ... ... ... ... 293
My dear and only love take heed ... ... ... 192
My Lady Carey's Dump ... ... ... ... ... ... 222
My little pretty One... ... ... ... ... ... ... 71
My Robin is to the greenwood gone ... ... ... ... 153
Nancy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 262
Newcastle 188
New Mad Tom a Bedlam ... ... ... ... 179
Noble acts of Arthur, The ... ... ... ... ... ... 92
Noble Shirve, The 126
Nonesuch ... ... ... ... 322
INDEX OF TUNES. 331
PAGE
North Country Lass, The ... ... ... ... ... ... 276
Nowell, Nowell... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 30
Now, oh now, I needs must part ... ... ... ... ... 275
Now, Robin, lend to me thy bow ... ... ... ... ... 53
Now the Spring is come ... ... ... ... ... ... 194
O Death, rock me asleep ... ... ... ... ... ... in
O do not, do not, kill me yet ... ... ... ... ... ... 173
Of all the birds 141
Oft have I ridden upon my grey nag ... ... ... ... 231
Oil of Barley, The 298
Old Simon the King 280
O Mistress mine ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 103
Once I loved a maiden fair ... ... ... ... ... ... 201
Packington's Pound ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 259
Parson and Dorothy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 289
Parthenia 295
Pastime with good company ... ... ... ... ... ... 42
Paul's Steeple 282
Paul's Wharf 266
Pavane d'Espagne ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 252
Peascod time ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 89
Peg-a-Ramsey ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 248
Pepper's black ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 290
Poor Man's Dump ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 221
Pretty Nancy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 234
Prince Rupert's March ... ... ... ... ... ... 317
Put on thy smock on Monday ... ... ... ... ... 234
Queen Dido 184
Quodling's Delight 276
Ragged and torn and true ... ... ... ... ... ... 281
Remember, O thou man ., 144
Robin Goodfellow 162
332 INDEX OF TUNES.
PAGE
Robin Hood ... ... ... ... ... 273
Rogero ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 231
Room for Company ... ... ... ... ... 316
Rosamond ... ... ... ... ... ... 163
Rowland 152
Row well, ye mariners ... ... ... ... ... ... 127
Sellenger's Round ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 256
Shaking of the Sheets, The ... ..7 228
Shall I go walk the woods so wild ... ... ,.. ... 119
Shall I wasting in despair ... ... ... ... ... ... 202
Shepherd, saw thou not ... ... ... ... ... ... 166
Shepherd's Daughter, The 289
Shepherd's Joy, The 148
Sick, sick ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 73
Since first I saw your face ... ... ... ... ... ... 129
Spanish Gipsy, The ... ... ... ... ... 186
Spanish Pavan, The ... ... ... ... 251
Staines Morris... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 243
Stingo ... ... ... ... 298
Sumer is icumen in 10
Tell me, Daphne 157
The clean contrary way ... ... ... ... ... ... 206
The Deil's awa' wi' the exciseman ... 298
The good old Cause ... ... ... , ... ... 206
The fairest nymph the vallies ... ... ... ... ... 170
The hunt is up ... 86
The hunter in his career 198
The leaves be green ... ... ... ... ... 154
The maid peeped out at the window , ... ... 296
The mother beguiles the daughter ... ... ... ... ... 300
The oak and the ash 276
There were three Ravens ... 75
INDEX OF TUNES. 333
PAGE
Three Merry Men ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 197
Tom-a-Bedlam ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 175
Tom Tinker ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 310
Trenchmore ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 224
Trip and go ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 309
Troy Town ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 183
Turkeloney ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 237
Two Children in the Wood, The ... ... ... ... ... 92
'Twas a youthful Knight ... ... ... ... ... ... 167
Under and over ... ... ... ... .. ... ... 304
Upon a Summer's day ... ... ... ... ... ... 318
Up tails all ... ... ... ... ... ... 149
Vive le Roy 209
Walking in a country town ... ... ... ... ... ... 117
Walsingham ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 69
Wanton Season ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 272
Watkin's Ale ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 265
We be soldiers three ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 133
We be three poor mariners ... ... ... ... ... ... 134
Wedding of the Frog and Mouse, The ... ... ... ... 142
Well-a-day ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 130
Western Wind... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 37
What care 1 how fair she be ... ... ... ... ... 203
What if a day ... ... ... ... .. ... ... 100
When as the Greeks did enterprise... ... ... ... ... 184
When Phoebus addrest 172
When the King enjoys his own again ... ... ... ... 210
When this old cap was new... ... ... ... ... ... 281
Whereto should I express ... ... ... ... ... ... 45
Who list to lead a soldier's life 303
Who liveth so merry... ... ... ... ... ... ... 137
334 INDEX OF TUNES.
PAGE
Whoop, do me no harm, good man <p6
Wigmore's Galliard 250
Willow willow ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... IO6
Willy and Cuddy ... ... ... ..t ... ... ... 158
Willy, prithee go to bed 225
Wilson's Wile 267
With my flock as walked I ... ... ... ... ... ... no
Wolsey's Wild 267
Woods so wild, The ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 119
Yonder comes a courteous Knight 136
HENDERSON & SPALDING, Limited, Printers, 3 and 5, Marylebone Lane, W.
0
BINDING SECT, MAY 15 1974
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
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1893
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Chappell, William
Old English popular music
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